Colorado Close to Requiring Safety Policies for Dating Apps

Anne-Marie Kopek knew her date had lied about his identity as soon as he opened the door.

Kopek said she met the man on a popular dating app she had gotten on shortly after her divorce in an effort to re-enter the dating scene. They messaged through the app, spoke on the phone and connected on social media before Kopek agreed to meet him for dinner. But as she stood in the doorway of his motel room to pick him up, Kopek realized the photos and information he shared were fake. And it was too late.

The stranger pulled Kopek inside the room, pushed her onto the bed and bound her wrists. Then he raped her. As he fled the scene, the man stole Kopek's ID, cash and underwear, warning her not to tell anyone what had happened, as he knew where she lived and worked. His dating profile, social media accounts and Google Voice phone number were all disabled by the time Kopek left the motel.

"This courtship was a practiced and perfected routine," Kopek told Colorado legislators last week as she recounted the story. "I was not the first woman he had done this to. This dating app was his hunting ground."

Kopek kept her assault a secret for twelve years — until last summer, when she saw reports of other women assaulted by people they met on dating apps. In May, thirteen women accused Denver doctor Stephen Matthews of drugging and/or raping them after matching with him on Hinge and Tinder. Earlier this year, Commerce City police officer Michael Glenn Parker was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman he met on Hinge.

"My story is not unique," Kopek said. "Dating app companies — multibillion-dollar Goliaths — will continue to provide their platforms to predators until there is a seismic shift in their profit model. ... It must be more costly for them to provide hunting grounds for predators than it is to protect their users."

Kopek and other survivors of sexual assault, stalking and financial scams shared their stories last week while testifying in support of Senate Bill 24-011 to a state House committee.

If it becomes law, the measure would require online dating services to create, publish and enforce safety policies by 2025. The policies must specify that engaging in sexual conduct without consent violates the policy; inform users of how to report misconduct and detail how the service will respond; and specify whether the service runs background checks on users. The number of annual reports and responses would have to be submitted to the Colorado Attorney General's Office.

The bill cleared its last major hurdle on Monday, April 29, passing the House in a 51-13 vote after the Senate approved it 29-6 in March. The measure will be sent back to the Senate today, April 30, to consider an amendment made by the House.

This effort comes as Colorado was ranked the fifth-most-dangerous state for online dating, according to an analysis by backgroundchecks.org of sexual assault statistics, STD prevalence and romance-related scams.

In a volunteer survey of dating app users across the country, 31 percent of women reported being sexually assaulted or raped by someone they met through a dating website.

Two legislators sponsoring SB 011 said they've had their own scary experiences on dating apps. Majority Leader Monica Duran said when she tried a dating app last summer, a person she had previously been chatting with was removed because of suspected fraudulent activity.

"While this wasn't the way that I wanted to start my online dating experience, I did feel protected by the app. ... Unfortunately, this is not everyone's experience — but it should be," Duran said during a House debate on April 26. "My experience seems to be the exception to the rule, not the rule. So we want to make it a rule."

In the sexual-assault case involving the Denver doctor, victims announced that they planned to sue the dating apps for allegedly failing to remove Matthews from the platforms. The women claim they reported Matthews's conduct as early as 2019, but he continued meeting new victims on the apps as late as 2023.

If approved, SB 011 would open online dating services up to greater liability if someone is harmed by a user who was previously reported to the service without taking action. Outside of dating apps, the bill would also require consent to track a person with software or devices like AirTags and expand Colorado's laws regarding non-consensual pornography to cover digitally altered sexual images, such as those created using artificial intelligence.

Opponents of the bill say they support its premise but are concerned about government overreach.

"The safety policy mandates and the mandatory requirement to file with the Attorney General's Office is overreaching and excessive," Republican Representative Richard Holtorf, who voted against the bill, tells Westword. "Do all other online businesses have the same reporting requirements?"

Democratic Representative Steven Woodrow — one of only two Democrats to oppose the bill — says he voted "no" because he worries the bill's disclosure requirements could violate the First Amendment and conflict with federal laws.

"It was a very close call," Woodrow says. "I obviously care about online harassment and want it addressed. I think there may be preemption issues and difficulties in implementation and enforcement."

Only the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar registered in opposition to the bill, according to the Colorado Secretary of State's Office, while eight organizations registered in favor of it, including the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault, the Colorado District Attorneys' Council and the Colorado Children's Alliance.