Michigan state lawmakers are debating whether to require Internet dating companies available to Michigan residents to disclose on-site whether they have conducted criminal background checks on the names provided by site users.
The proposal by state Sen. Alan Cropsey (R-DeWitt) would also require the e-date services to disclose limitations of background checks and urge members to follow "safe dating" practices.
"There are inherent dangers in the whole area of the Internet," Cropsey told reporters after his bill was voted out of committee to the full Senate in a tight 4-3 vote. "Something needs to be done."
In Cropsey's body, that all depends. Reports from Michigan indicate the Senate is divided "deeply" over the proposal, and not strictly along party lines. Two Democrats and one Republican voted against the bill in committee, while one Democrat joined three Republicans in approving it.
Critics have said any feeling of security under such a bill would be deceptive because no one can be absolutely certain that e-dating users are giving their real names when signing up to join such sites. Supporters have said just posting the background check disclosure would prove a major help in making people aware of possible online dating dangers.
And, as always, there have been questions as to just who will foot the bill for the screening costs incurred if the Cropsey bill becomes law.
One online dating service, True.com, does perform background screening, and has spoken about incidents where people have been shot, stabbed, or otherwise scammed or defrauded by dates users met online.
True.com founder Herbert Vest told reporters that the Michigan bill, if it becomes law, would save lives, property, and heartbreak. "As an industry," he was quoted as saying, "we owe it to our members to inform them of the potential hazards."
Match.com, one of the top online dating sites in cyberspace, prefers not to lapse into what spokeswoman Kristin Kelly calls "the path of paranoia." She told reporters that you have to be cautious when meeting someone new in person for the first time, but if "we get too far down the path of paranoia, we don't see what point that serves."
Michigan lawmakers have considered such a bill before, a comparable bill in the lower House that’s stalling in the Senate. The Senate may vote on the Cropsey bill in April.
