Abusive users to be banned from Tinder, Grindr and other dating apps under government crackdown

The federal government says that, for the first time, popular dating apps will be regulated in order to stamp out gendered violence and other harm on their services.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland. Picture: Martin Ollman

The federal government has launched a crackdown on online dating apps after years of lobbying from the eSafety Commissioner for tech companies to “prioritise safety over clicks.

Popular apps including Tinder, Grindr and RSVP have adopted a new industry code. The dating apps have also agreed to a new compliance rating system that will be published on their services to provide users “clear guidance on how each dating service is meeting its commitments”.

The dating code includes terminating accounts from abusive users as well as “proactive escalation” by complaints with law enforcement agencies where there is an “imminent threat to the safety of a complainant” and to stamp out violence

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland blamed the previous Coalition government for a “lack of inaction” over the past decade to rein in dating apps.

“Online dating is now the most common way to meet a partner in Australia. These services did not develop overnight, and the lack of action over the last decade means that regulation has not kept pace with technology,” Ms Rowland said. “This new industry code is an Australian-first for the online dating sector.

eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant. Picture: Martin Ollman

“The Albanese government’s constructive engagement with industry means that the largest online dating services operating in Australia have made clear, public commitments to improve the safety of their services – including to crack down on abuse and deplatform dangerous users.”

It comes after executives from Bumble, Grindr and Tinder attended a roundtable with government in January to discuss the dangers of their apps.

Ms Rowland told the roundtable that people who cause harm in the “digital world” need to be held as accountable as they would be if they perpetrated such harms offline. “We know women are more likely than men to experience online harm – particularly sexualised, violent and threatening abuse,” she said at the time.

Other companies that have agreed to the code include Bumble, Spark, eHarmony and Match.

Ms Rowland said an independent code compliance committee would oversee the companies to ensure they meet their obligations. The committee will comprise three members of the public – including a solicitor, another with experience relating to online safety, sexual or gender-based violence or public policy, and one with experience in social networking technology platforms.

Ms Rowland said the committee would be “empowered to enforce the code”. This included issuing formal warnings, ordering a participant to develop a plan to meet its commitments, and suspension or formal removal from the code, which would prohibit the use of any accreditation or reference to compliance with the code.

Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth. Picture: Gaye Gerard

The code is expected to take effect within three months. After nine months of its operation, eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant will access its effectiveness and provide further advice to government, including whether further regulation is needed.

Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth said “dating app violence is a form of gender-based violence, and it has to end”.

“Our government is committed to ensuring Australians are safe from sexual violence and abuse in both online and physical spaces. We must create communities – both in the physical and virtual world – where everyone is treated equally and with respect.”

The agreement of the dating apps is in contrast to the tussle the government is having with Facebook owner Meta, which has threatened to withdraw all news from its platforms after it abandoned a separate code that compensated media companies for publishing their content. This has resulted in almost $100m being ripped from newsrooms and sparked concerns that Meta’s platforms will be awash with misinformation in what is one of the biggest election years in history.

Canada has also struggled to rein in Meta, which has threatened to withdraw its services from British Columbia after the province’s government introduced legislation to cover health-related costs from online “wrongdoers”, including social media platforms.