Online dating sites may be the newest pickup hot spot, but they’re not for everyone. Some people are afraid of who they might meet online.
“People can change who they are and you don’t really see who they are. They’re just behind the computer screen,” says FSU freshman Lesley Lynn.
Senator Ronda Storms fears predators are using dating sites to find victims. Storms is sponsoring a bill requiring sites like Match.com and EHarmony, to tell subscribers they don’t run background checks.
“Either you do it or you don’t do it. That’s all. It’s transparency. Interesting it’s so opposed by the industry. And it is vigorously opposed by the industry,” says Sen. Storms (R-Tampa, FL)
True.com claims it’s the only online dating site running background checks.
Opponents of the bill say it’s simply about one site wanting its competitors to admit they’re not as good.
Opponents say if sites start claiming they run background checks, the disclaimer could give users false hope.
“My concern is that if you have something on there that says ‘we do background checks’ we don’t know what that means and it might give people who use the thing a false sense of security,” says Rep. Charlie Justice (D-Pinellas County, FL)
While the bill targets online dating, it does nothing to regulate social networking sight like myspace and facebook. Still proponents say you’ve got to start somewhere.
The bill would allow the state to sue any dating service that didn’t let its users know its members hadn’t been subjected to background checks.