Dating apps are the subject of the latest panic around our sexual health and wellbeing, after porn, social media and sexting. BBC Newsbeat reported that apps such as Tinder and Happn could lead to a tipping point of people changing partners frequently, enough to cause an “explosion” in HIV, according to sexual health consultant Dr Peter Greenhouse.

The assumption in these assertions is that people who use dating apps are more likely to acquire more sexual partners, and are also perhaps less likely to be serious about their sexual health. However, does the evidence back this up? The British National Surveys of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal) are among the largest and most detailed studies of sexual behaviour in the world and the latest report, Natsal 3, conducted from 2010-12, should make us think twice about jumping to these conclusions. The research team found:

• There has been little change in partner acquisition from 2001-12, despite the increase in use of the internet and social media.

• An increase in the most common bacterial STI – chlamydia – in this time was not due to a change in behaviour but an increase in testing and diagnosis.

• People with more sexual partners are more likely to get tested for STIs.

It will be interesting to see, in a few years’ time, whether dating apps have really changed sexual behaviour. In the meantime we need to think very carefully before we point the finger at a section of the population and blame them for STI increases. Stigmatising people is not the right thing to do, and nor is it effective. It is also important to remember that many people using dating apps aren’t “hooking up” in the way that much of the media suggests. People are looking for a broad spectrum of relationships or connections, from very sexual to not at all sexual.

So do the creators of dating apps have a responsibility for the sexual health of the people who use them? Sure, they could do their bit. Perhaps they could create jobs for some of the many underemployed sex and relationship educators out there to offer advice about the risks and complications that come with sex and relationships: STIs, unplanned pregnancy, safer dating, online privacy, diversity in sexual practices and identities, consent and emotional wellbeing. Not to mention how to write a good first message and why sedated tigers are not a good look in a profile picture.

However I think we all have a responsibility to provide this kind of education. As individuals we could be more clued up about how to make sex safer, and more mutually pleasurable for us and others. Mainstream media should have a role in reporting sensibly and accurately: for instance, by not cherry-picking scary-sounding increases in syphilis and gonorrhoea, when actually the baseline numbers for these infections are comparatively very low.

Sexual health clinics could do more to make their services accessible to more people, in particular by targeting populations at risk of STIs. There were tremendous advances in the last decade, especially in providing young people with easy access to services. Such clinics are invaluable at seeking to address all of the sexual health needs of their clients, not just medical, but psychological and emotional too. However they are facing ongoing cuts and enormous pressure in their efforts to continue to offer such high-quality services.

Of course the government has a responsibility too. Cuts to public health budgets are going to seriously affect how services, outreach and educational programmes are delivered over the next few years. Some local authorities prioritise sexual health more than others but funding sexual health services is not exactly a vote winner, despite the fact that it would be a sound and sensible investment from a purely economic perspective. Given that there is a strong link between areas with high levels of deprivation and STIs, the government could do more to tackle this too. We should all vocalise our support for these important but often overlooked services, rather than worrying about how dating apps might be changing our sexual landscape.