Chinese authorities seek to get tough on online dating scams with fresh move to target fake identities
Government also hopes to promote marriage through state-sanctioned matchmaking channels such as Communist Youth League groups
The Chinese authorities have announced a crackdown on the use of fake identities to sign up for online dating sites amid concerns about widespread marriage scams targeting China’s 200 million singles.
According to a set of new guidelines published by the government on Monday, dating sites will be required to take additional measures to vet users’ identities.
The government also said it wanted to promote, expand and further regulate state-sanctioned matchmaking channels such as Communist Youth League dating groups and grass roots community organisations.
The regulations, jointly drawn up by the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Communist Youth League and the National Health and Family Planning Commission, are designed to regulate the marriage market and dating industry, and establish “sound and trustworthy platforms” for online dating.
Since early June all users of dating sites have been required to register using their real name and it was not clear what additional steps the sites would have to take following the latest announcement.