Rotherham MP: Dating apps need to take more responsibility for safety

Rotherham MP Sarah Champion says dating apps are "lagging behind" in tackling safety concerns - as stats show a rise in online dating incidents across South Yorkshire.

Hallam can exclusively reveal the number of crimes reported in our county involving online dating's more than doubled in the space of a year.

In 2016 there were 12 incidents, up from just 5 in 2015.

These include fake profiles being set up to cause distress or anxiety and victims being harassed through apps.

Sarah Champion's now calling for the dating apps themselves to be doing more to prevent incidents - by vetting users who join.

She's told Hallam they're lagging behind in tackling the problem:

"I really think that the dating apps themselves need to take some responsibility in terms of how they vet people but, more importantly, when a complaint is raised with them exactly what they do about it - they need to be blocking people from using the site and I personally think they should be preventing that person from rejoining the site in the future.

"I'm extremely concerned about this rise but I'm not surprised. People more and more are turning to dating apps and to be quite honest with you, people are not using the same due diligence that they would if they were meeting someone in, say, a pub or a bar. I do a lot of work with children explaining to them the dangers online but i think we need to be doing more around teenager and adults now.

"**The dating apps** could be doing more to vet people themselves and maybe what we need going forward is some sort of grading system, so that there's almost like a kite mark so that we know that these people have provided proper data that people can trust. Where we are at the moment is we're just sort of jumping into a black hole and hoping that everyone's honest."

It comes as more and more people are using apps like Tinder and Grindr to date.

A spokesman for South Yorkshire Police said:

“In recent years online dating has become increasingly popular, and while the vast majority of people using these sites are sincere and honest, there will always be exceptions. There has been approximately one crime per month reported in 2016, which is an increase from the previous year where one every two months was reported.

“These crimes vary from offensive messages received and harassment to fake profiles set up with the intent to cause distress or anxiety. I would always advise people to never disclose private information online and to be very careful about how and when meeting people face to face is arranged.

“Always follows the websites instruction and report any abuse to the site administrator immediately as online dating sites do take this very seriously. We will always investigate any incidents made to us and we would encourage people to report any concerns to the police.”

We've asked one of the most popular dating apps, Tinder, for a response but they haven't got back to us.

Grindr - another popular dating app - have sent us this statement:

"Grindr is committed to creating a safe environment through a system of digital and human screening tools, while also encouraging users to report suspicious and threatening activities. While we are constantly improving upon this process, it is important to remember that Grindr is a platform. Grindr cooperates with the police on a regular basis and does not condone this type of violence

"Grindr provides global outreach, information, and access to services to our users around the world, ranging from sexual health services to alerts on raids in dangerous areas to help for refugees. Grindr seeks to work with these communities on solving these social issues."

• Dating apps
• Grindr