Banned on one, blocked on all: Dating app abusers face platform-wide exile

A user banned from one dating app will now be blocked across all of a company’s other apps under a voluntary code of conduct the tech giants have given to the federal government.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland and Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth released a copy of the new code on Thursday, which had been handed to them last week by Match Group, Bumble and Grindr along with a range of other smaller app companies.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland.Credit: Ben Symons

After nine months, the eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant will review the voluntary code’s effectiveness in protecting Australians and advise the federal government on whether the industry needed further regulation.

Match, the largest player in the industry, owns dozens of apps including Tinder, Hinge, Plenty of Fish and OK Cupid, while Bumble also owns multiple apps.

Since their launch more than a decade ago, dating apps have redefined romance for a generation of Australians and built a global industry worth more than $7.5 billion dollars.

The enormous growth in user numbers for the two biggest app companies – Match and Bumble – began to falter soon after the pandemic ebbed out.

In response, the companies have raised prices, with Tinder now costing up to $49.99 a month for a subscription.

An investigation by this masthead into the dating app industry in Australia published this week showed that despite falling user numbers, earnings per dating app user continued to grow as the companies applied this financial squeeze to their remaining customers.

Rowland demanded the code from app companies after the Australian Institute of Criminology found in 2022 that three in four people using dating apps had experienced some form of sexual violence, including harassment, threatening language, image-based sexual abuse and stalking.

Both Match and Bumble own multiple dating apps that operate in Australia. Under the new rules, both will shut the dating accounts of users across apps if safety policies are violated.

“If an industry participant operates more than one dating service, any enforcement action taken against an end-user for a serious violation of the online safety policies is applied to all known accounts used by that end-user,” the new code says.

Dating apps will also publish regular reports detailing the number of Australian accounts terminated and a new compliance rating system giving users guidance on how each service is meeting its commitments.

A new body to oversee the code will also be established, made up of three members of the public: a lawyer; a person with experience in social media; and a person with expertise in online safety, gender-based violence or public policy.

Dating app companies will also come up with a plan to potentially share information about users who “might pose an increased risk of committing a serious violation” of safety policies.

The code will commence in October, allowing the companies three months to put the new practices into place.

“Online dating is now the most common way to meet a partner in Australia,” Rowland said on Thursday. “These services did not develop overnight, and the lack of action over the last decade means that regulation has not kept pace with technology.”

Rowland said the code meant Tinder, Hinge, Bumble and all the companies behind dating apps in Australia had “made clear, public commitments to improve the safety of their services – including to crack down on abuse and de-platform dangerous users”.

A range of experts on dating apps and technology have raised concerns about the way the apps tend to funnel some men towards misogyny.

So bad did things become on one app, Plenty of Fish, that they introduced a “no dick pics” badge that women could display on their profile. They sold it as “something to really celebrate”.

Rishworth said that abuse on dating apps was a form of gender-based violence and had to end.

“We must create communities – both in the physical and virtual world – where everyone is treated equally and with respect,” she said. Rishworth said the dating apps code would improve safety and help Australians make better choices about the apps they use.

Match and Bumble last week said the industry had worked co-operatively for months to prepare the code.

“Any instance of violence, harassment or abuse is unacceptable to us, and we do not hesitate to remove perpetrators from our platform,” a Bumble spokeswoman said.

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