Stricter rules urged for online dating sites

Jan 18, THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

Tighter regulations are needed for online dating sites to stem the increase in teenage girls falling victim to sex-related crimes linked to such services, a National Police Agency report said Thursday.

An NPA-commissioned panel that compiled the report suggests eight steps, including stricter confirmation of the age of visitors to the sites, a registration system for site operators, and a requirement for operators to delete messages written by children under 18.

The NPA plans to solicit opinions from the public through its Web site and other means until the end of this month.

It intends to submit to the Diet as early as March a bill revising the law on the regulation of online matchmaking sites.

According to the NPA, an estimated 5,000 dating sites are online.

The annual number of children aged 17 or younger involved in child prostitution and other crimes has exceeded 1,000 over the past several years. The figure for 2006 was 1,153, and more than 99 percent were girls, the agency said.

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