Most bad experiences on dating apps stop at an unpleasant message, but some cross the line into conduct that the criminal law covers. A match who is rejected may send threats, spread false claims or send messages that are abusive. Which offence applies depends on what the message says and where the case is dealt with. This guide draws on the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) guidance for England and Wales and on the text of the Online Safety Act 2023 on legislation.gov.uk. It is general information, not legal advice.
Which nations the offences cover
The CPS guidance applies to prosecutions in England and Wales and notes that Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate legal systems. The Online Safety Act 2023 communications offences discussed below are marked on legislation.gov.uk as extending to England, Wales and Northern Ireland; the pages for sections 179 and 181 do not show Scotland. A person in Scotland should therefore look to Scottish law and to Police Scotland; our guide to stalking law in England, Wales and Scotland explains the Scottish position on repeated contact. The CPS also states that an offence must have a substantial connection with England and Wales for the courts there to have jurisdiction, which can include cases where the suspect or the victim is in England and Wales.
Threats of death or serious harm
Section 181 of the Online Safety Act 2023 creates the threatening communications offence. A person commits it by sending a message that conveys a threat of death or serious harm, where at the time of sending they either intended an individual encountering the message to fear that the threat would be carried out, or were reckless as to whether an individual would fear that. Section 181(2) defines serious harm as serious injury amounting to grievous bodily harm, rape, assault by penetration or serious financial loss, and the CPS guidance repeats that definition. On conviction on indictment the maximum is five years’ imprisonment, a fine or both; on summary conviction in England and Wales the penalty is imprisonment or a fine, and in Northern Ireland up to six months. Part 10 of the Act, which contains the communications offences, came into force on 31 January 2024, and the CPS says the older offence in section 1(1)(a)(ii) of the Malicious Communications Act 1988 was repealed from that date.
False communications
Section 179 covers messages that convey information the sender knows to be false, sent with the intention of causing non-trivial psychological or physical harm to a likely audience, and without a reasonable excuse. It is a summary offence: in England and Wales the penalty is imprisonment up to the maximum summary term or a fine, and in Northern Ireland up to six months or a level 5 fine. The section refers to section 180 for exemptions, which are not described here.
Grossly offensive or indecent messages
The CPS explains that the Malicious Communications Act 1988 and the Communications Act 2003 continue to cover grossly offensive and indecent messages. Under section 127 of the 2003 Act, the sender must have intended the message to be grossly offensive or been aware it might be taken so, a reasonable member of the public must find it grossly offensive, and it must be sent over a public electronic communications network, which includes social media. The threshold is high: the CPS quotes the principle that the message must be not simply offensive but grossly offensive, and that bad taste, even shockingly bad taste, is not enough. Sending unsolicited sexual images is dealt with by a separate offence; see our guide to cyberflashing, and for intimate images see images shared without consent. In England and Wales, the CPS says the offence of threatening to share an intimate image can apply even where the image does not exist, with a maximum of two years’ imprisonment.
What evidence the CPS looks for
The CPS guide lists the kind of material that supports a case: screenshots or saved copies of messages, dates and times, evidence of the identity of the person affected and of any harm caused, and information about whether there were multiple senders or a coordinated campaign. It also treats coordinated “virtual mobbing” as a public interest factor. Our guide to documenting suspicious behaviour explains how to keep records safely.
Frequently asked questions
Is a rude message an offence? Not necessarily. The CPS stresses that grossly offensive is a high threshold and that bad taste alone does not meet it.
Do the offences apply in Scotland? The Online Safety Act offences are marked as extending to England, Wales and Northern Ireland only, so Scottish law and Police Scotland apply there.
What is the maximum sentence for a threat? Up to five years’ imprisonment on indictment under section 181.
The bottom line
Threats of death or serious harm, knowingly false messages sent to cause harm, and grossly offensive or indecent communications can each be criminal, but the tests are specific and the offences differ between nations. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, saving messages with dates and times gives the police and prosecutors the best material to assess a case, and anyone in immediate danger should call 999.