Utah House Committee Passes Bill to Make Online Dating Safer
Contributed by: kellyseal on Wednesday, March 03 2021 @ 02:53 pm
Last modified on Wednesday, March 03 2021 @ 03:09 pm
The Judiciary Committee in the Utah House of Representatives just passed a bill that would allow people to search the legal records of anyone they meet online, providing new safety measures for online daters.
The bill would allow Utah residents to have easier access to a service called Xchange, which provides information from Utah’s public court system, according to The Daily Universe[*1] , the paper published by Brigham Young University. Right now, broad access is limited, but if the bill is passed, residents can opt to pay a monthly fee to use it and get relevant history and information on potential dates.
The bill passed the Committee by unanimous vote in mid-February and is now headed to the House for a floor vote. The bill was sponsored by Republican Rep. Stephen Handy.
While public records are already accessible, this would allow people to more easily search and identify potential red flags before meeting someone they connected with online. The bill was specifically aimed to help college students, 91 percent of whom use dating apps to meet people, according to a recent survey of 5,000 students.
Handy presented the bill and asked constituent Laura Wilson to boost the cause. She had raised a red flag about this problem to Handy after sharing her experience of dating an abusive man she met online. At first, she seemed to bond with her date and had “no reason to suspect he had a history of violence,” according to her statement to the Committee. But months into the relationship, he started displaying violent behavior. She said the abuse continued to escalate after he admitted he had a criminal record, and after she became pregnant.
Dating apps have come under fire recently about the lack of safety and security for users. Currently, there is no system on most of these apps to filter out sex offenders before they join, putting their matches at risk. And Match Group specifically has been called out for not responding to reports from users who were sexually assaulted by someone they met over its app Tinder. Since then, the company has hired a safety board and new head of security and safety in order to address these issues.
Bumble has also taken legal steps to help protect online daters, including a bill that passed the Texas state legislature in September 2019. The law states that a lewd photo sent without a recipient’s consent is a Class C misdemeanor and punishable by a fine of up to $500. Bumble is working on getting this passed in more states, using Texas as a model.
The same could hold true for the Utah bill if it passes. While online dating companies need to do more to protect users, legislation is also key to creating a safer online dating environment.