Gay and bisexual people in Australia are being targeted in violent attacks facilitated through dating and social media apps.

A recent investigation by the ABC revealed several hate crimes involving Islamic State sympathisers bashing gay and bisexual boys in Sydney, including some they had met on Wizz, which markets itself as an app for connecting young people, including minors.

This is just one of many examples. As of October 2024, Victoria Police had arrested 35 people in relation to similar incidents in which offenders had used fake profiles on Grindr and other dating apps to connect with gay men, before assaulting them.

Victoria has just established a parliamentary inquiry to investigate this spate of attacks.

So what do dating apps do to vet users? Could they be doing more? And how can users protect themselves?

What do dating apps do to protect users?

As anyone who has used a dating app will know, it’s very easy to set up an account. Generally all you need to do is to enter your email, password and date of birth. Then you’re free to make your profile and start looking for a match.

This can make it easy for offenders to set up fake profiles to target unsuspecting........

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