Dating app background and ID checks being considered in bid to fight abuse
Background checks and ID verification systems in dating apps are among the measures being considered as governments around the country grapple with how to keep people safe while they are looking for love online.
The strategies were discussed by ministers, victim-survivors, authorities and technology companies as part of national dating app roundtable talks in Sydney on Wednesday.
The federal communications minister, Michelle Rowland, said it was an “important first step”, flagging discussion of possible longer-term changes like background checks for dating app users.
“None of us underestimate the complex issues around privacy, user safety, data collection and management that are involved,” she said.
“There’s no one law that is going to fix this issue.”
“Many instances of abuse are perpetrated by those without a criminal record or any convictions … and that’s why a big focus of the discussion was also on what could be done to encourage respectful online interactions.”
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup
Dating apps were also put on notice by the eSafety Comissioner, Julie Inman Grant, who warned none were up to her safety standards and that they needed to make major improvements or they would face a mandatory code.
She said platforms needed to be transparent about how many people were being abused so the government could get a handle on the scale of the problem.
“I wouldn’t say any one [app] is meeting all of those standards,” she said.
The commissioner would be issuing notices to all platforms demanding greater sharing of data, collaboration between platforms on safety measures and roadmaps for how they planned to deal with users who reappear on apps and reoffend.
“If I don’t get total transparency, I have legal compulsion powers that I can use,” she said.
Rowland said complaint handling by apps was a key area of concern.
“We need industry to improve their action, their transparency and their accountability in how they respond to consumer complaints,” she said.
The federal social services minister, Amanda Rishworth, said people with lived experiences of app-enabled abuse and violence needed to be at the centre of discussions to stop perpetrators.
“There does need to be a proactive response, where it is perpetrators and those perpetrating the abuse that are held to account,” Rishworth said.
Teach Us Consent founder, Chanel Contos, called on dating app companies to invest in educating the public about respectful relationships and consent.
Federal, state and territory attorneys general will now be asked to look at the issues and consider criminal justice response as a matter of priority.
Wednesday’s meeting was called in response to the rising number of people using online dating apps and a corresponding rise in assault and abuse.
A recent study from the Australian Institute of Criminology found threequarters of survey respondents had been subjected to sexual violence on
dating apps in the last five years.
Tinder’s parent company, Match, vowed to work with Australian authorities to improve user safety by using technology within the platform, saying it was “focused on building safety in everything we do”.
A Bumble spokesperson said the company was looking forward to working with others to improve safety for women on and off the platform.
“Any instance of violence, harassment or abuse is unacceptable to us and we do not hesitate to permanently remove perpetrators from our platform,” the spokesperson said. “We have a law enforcement portal to facilitate access to data for investigative purposes. We will even take action against perpetrators for behaviour that is reported to us that occurred on other apps.”
In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14 and the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123 and the domestic abuse helpline is 0808 2000 247. In the US, the suicide prevention lifeline is 1-800-273-8255 and the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org
dian sportsbook. They are inescapable, relentless, and for many, extremely annoying. “These gambling ads are out of hand,” one Reddit user posted in October. “We’re not even finished the first period of the Leafs game and there have already been around 10 DraftKings ads. This is ridiculous.”
As part of a recent investigation into the impacts of sports betting, using the UK as an example, the CBC asked Matthews why he’d chosen to partner with Bet99.net. “I appreciate the question, but I don’t think I’m going to get into it much, honestly,” Matthews replied, asking the reporters for “more hockeyrelated questions”.
Before the US legalized single-event sports betting in 2018, the NHL opposed the idea. However, the “the landscape in North America has changed,” the NHL’s chief business officer, Keith Wachtel, told Canadian parliamentarians in 2021 – specifically, “technological innovation, increased partner sophistication and … a true understanding of how a regulated legal sports market can better promote responsibility and integrity versus a non-regulated market.” As it happens, the NHL probably also figured out it can make a lot of money – as much as $216m in annual revenue, according to research from the American Gaming Association.
When it comes to guys like Matthews and McDavid, one obvious concern is that adult viewers and fans will act on these endorsements and, despite tools to set limits, become addicts. But a lot of kids watch hockey, too. Nobody, it seems – including those who pushed for the changes to Canada’s criminal code that have allowed for single-event betting, like MP Brian Masse – really thought about that. He told the CBC he was now worried about the potential impacts of the ads on kids.
What can be done?
In Canada, anyway, there might be a pathway to more stringent regulation. The CRTC, Canada’s federal telecommunications regulator, already has established rules around alcohol advertising that state it cannot contain an endorsement from “any person … who is or is likely to be a role model for minors,” including for a full 10 years after they’ve retired from that activity. This rule kicked-in in 2003, when former NHL commentator Don Cherry endorsed Molson beer. The ads were eventually pulled after complaints. I asked the CRTC whether it was considering extending its rules for alcohol endorsement to single-event sports betting. “It is the responsibility of the advertiser to ensure the legality of airing all its commercials,” a CRTC spokesperson replied. “I don’t have any further information on this issue, and am not in a position to speculate.”
Top cheese
On 19 January, Josh Morrissey notched his 50th point of the season, another milestone in the best year of his career. Part of what makes Morrissey’s story so compelling is that he’s had a long road to this point. After joining the Jets full-time roster in 2016-17, Morrissey typically played around 60 games a season for Winnipeg, notching somewhere between 20 and 30 points a campaign.
That’s changed this year thanks in part to a coaching regime under Rick Bowness – one that encourages a much more aggressive defense, which suits Morrissey’s style and which has helped make Winnipeg a playoff contender in the West. Morrissey credits Bowness with challenging him to take his game “to new levels”.
Here’s Morrissey with a beautiful feed to Nikolaj Ehlers on Saturday night.
“I’m not too far removed from a couple tough seasons with family stuff going on,” Morrissey told the Winnipeg Sun earlier this month, referring to his dad’s recent death from cancer. Now Morrissey’s currently on pace for 90 points, prompting Jets’ fans to dub him “Norrissey”, a reference to the Norris trophy, awarded to the league’s best defenceman every year. It’s not out of the question that he could get it. In the meantime, he’ll have to settle for being an All-Star.
Cup chase – who’s hot
Barring a spectacular collapse in the final week of the month, the Boston Bruins will finish January as they started it: winning. They are on pace for 65 wins this season.
The Carolina Hurricanes finally welcomed Max Pacioretty, who’d been out since mid-August as he fixed and rested a torn achilles tendon – only for him to tear it again.
While Toronto were inconsistent, Tampa Bay went on a five-game winning streak through the middle of January, before losing two consecutive games to Edmonton and Calgary. Elsewhere, the New Jersey Devils snapped out of their December doldrums in their own five-game win run to bring themselves within reach of the top of the Metropolitan division.
The Dallas Stars stayed neck-andneck with the Jets atop the Central division during a frustrating month, perhaps summed up best by Jake Oettinger’s delay-of-game penalty on 12 January in New York.
Further west, the Kraken awoke on 1 January and decided to sink opponents for eight straight games – including Boston – before finally losing to Tampa Bay. Meanwhile, in Edmonton, goaltender Jack Campbell may have finally found his groove, backstopping five straight wins into the third week of January (with a sixth consecutive win going to backup Stuart Skinner).
Bedard chase – who’s not
At writing, Tankathon.com, a site with a running NHL draft simulator, says the Columbus Blue Jackets have the best chance (25.5%) of grabbing the first overall pick this summer (ie Connor Bedard, the 17-year-old phenom from North Vancouver). Despite taking on star Johnny Gaudreau last summer in a surprise move, Columbus have had an abysmal season. January was no different, with the Jackets’ only significant win, against Carolina, coming in a shootout.
Meanwhile, the Athletic’s calculations put Anaheim ahead in the race for Bedard. January wasn’t kind to Anaheim, either – but at least they beat Columbus. Somewhere in this race still are Chicago, where chatter continued (but didn’t get far) about where Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane may end up by the trade deadline (Pacioretty’s injury might be a hint).
Clip of the month
Connor McDavid continues to learn hockey’s cheat codes and has no shame in deploying them. In mid-January in Anaheim, he showed off a spin move to net his 35th goal of the year. He’s since scored five more and, unsurprisingly, leads the league in goals and overall points.
Elsewhere around the league
• Sunrise, Florida: The NHL’s AllStar Game fan vote system has proved controversial once again. The problem this time was that, well, the fans’ votes didn’t seem to count. Neither Alexander Barkov (Panthers) nor Martin Nečcas (Carolina) made the cut, much to the dismay of their fanbases, some of whom suggested the process is being rigged, but this seems unlikely. Whatever the reason, they’re unfortunate – especially for Barkov, whom the home crowd would have been excited to support. At this rate, the NHL will probably be happy to just get out of Florida intact.
• Vancouver: What to say about the ongoing dysfunction in Vancouver? A new head coach might, under normal circumstances, have been greeted positively, given the team’s poor season. Not so in this case. Earlier this month, team president Jim Rutherford admitted he’d been calling other coaches, but that “all I can say is that Bruce [Boudreau] is our coach right now.” That didn’t sit well with, uh, anyone. And fans made it clear whose side they were on when it became clear that a coaching change was indeed imminent.
How that impacts incoming coach Rick Tocchet is yet to be seen, but he’s already made one promise: he’ll stay off Twitter.
• Montreal: Cole Caufield will miss the rest of the season after he undergoes shoulder surgery sometime soon. It’s another blow to an already injuryplagued Canadiens team.