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Prof. Salter said the following safeguards should be implemented for dating apps:

• Introduction of user verification processes like mandatory ID checks.
• Tools to detect predatory behaviours, like grooming language or suspicious messaging patterns.
• Education campaigns to raise single parents’ awareness of the risks of child abusers who use dating apps and how to take steps and spot red flags to safeguard their families. 
• Oversight to improve accountability and protect vulnerable users.
• Mandatory reporting of breaches of community safety guidelines to authorities.
• Further accountability mechanisms, including civil or even criminal liability of platforms, should be explored.

“There’s no reason why the robust user identification methods we have in other industries, such as banking and gambling, should not also have to be adopted by dating app platforms,” Prof. Salter said. “Similarly, there are a range of AI tools and systems that can flag problematic words and conversations that can and should be used.”

This study has several limitations. Participants were recruited through an online survey panel company, which may affect the generalisability of the findings. Because the study relies on self-reported data, there is also potential for social desirability bias – where responders give what they perceive to be socially approved answers – due to the sensitive nature of the questions.

The report published today coincides with the launch of the Childlight East Asia & Pacific Hub, established by Human Dignity Foundation and hosted by �鶹��madou in partnership with the University of Edinburgh. The Childlight organisation, founded in the UK and now branching into the Asia Pacific, works alongside international organisations like the World Health Organization and United Nations, NGOs, law enforcement, the tech industry and young people worldwide to expose the scale of abuse globally.

Debi Fry, Childlight’s Global Director of Data and Professor of International Child Protection Research at the University of Edinburgh, said child sexual exploitation and abuse was a global public health emergency that requires emergency measures. She said new risks are emerging, and protections have not kept pace.

“Child sexual exploitation and abuse is preventable, not inevitable,” Prof. Fry said. “Just as we mobilise globally to prevent other pandemics, we must now mobilise globally to prevent abuse against children.

“It means focusing not just on reactive law enforcement measures but on proactive prevention strategies that tackle the underlying determinants of abuse, including the financial and technological ecosystems that sustain it.”

�鶹��madou Vice-President Societal Impact, Equity and Engagement Professor Verity Firth AM said the establishment of the Childlight Hub at �鶹��madou would help broaden the reach of the global organisation, which shines a light on the shocking exploitation and abuse of children around the world.

“The Childlight East-Asia and Pacific Hub at �鶹��madou, led by Professor Michael Salter, will help accelerate global efforts to stop child sexual exploitation and abuse and its devastating lifelong effects.

“This partnership will bring together an international network of experts and resources to produce the impactful research needed to help policymakers and law enforcement protect children worldwide.”