Over 37% of Taiwanese Children Have Used Dating Apps

The Child Welfare League Foundation (CWLF) has issued a warning about the amount of children using dating apps in Taiwan.

Following a study, the CWLF reported that 37.7% of children aged 12-17 have used a dating app to talk to strangers. 1,889 participants were surveyed.

The organisation found that apps have very limited security when it comes to age restrictions, and it was easy for underage users to sign up with a fake age.

It was also discovered that there was a high risk of a person’s location being leaked due to GPS functions.

The CWLF did not disclose which dating apps were looked into.

Huang Yun-Hsuan, a spokesperson for the CWLF, told XinhuaNet: “There are three major potential dangers for children using dating apps: leaking of personal information, dangerous requests from strangers, and children leaving home to meet strangers in person.”

A few solutions have been proposed to solve this major problem. The CWLF challenged the Taiwan administration to strengthen supervision, and dating apps to conduct greater self-discipline. Finally, it called on parents and schools to give children a better education about the dangers of talking to strangers online.

The UK is set to become the first country to require age verification for all sites that deem to be home to adult content. The scheme is planned to be implemented later this year.

Taiwan was recently announced as the location for Grindr’s new HQ, due to the country’s progressive attitudes toward the LGBTQ+ community.

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