TRIGGER WARNING: The following article contains screenshots of sexual messages and photos received on a test NCOSE account. Images have been censored but are still suggestive.
A “12-year-old girl” created a Kik account. She was fairly new to social media, so she was a bit nervous. Because of this, she made her username “Im12BeNice.”
Immediately, she began receiving messages from various strangers.
Her first message: “just hopped out of the shower, drying off <3”
Her second: “lets do a live call masturbating”
Her third: A nude photo.
Her fourth: A photo of someone taking off their underwear, with a link “take-me-today”
Her sixth: Anude photo.
And so on and so forth. Below are screenshots of just some of the messages received to the “Im12BeNice” account.
Fully exposed breasts censored by NCOSE
Depicts individual taking off their underwear; censored by NCOSE
Breasts and face censored by NCOSE
Woman disrobing; censored by NCOSE
Fortunately, this account did not truly belong to a 12-year-old girl. It was a NCOSE employee impersonating one.
But countless real children are having these kinds of experiences on Kik. In fact, for the past five years, Kik has been either the #1 or #2 most flagged app for children being exposed to severe sexual content, as reported by Bark.
Kik has been on NCOSE’s Dirty Dozen List in previous years for rampant child sexual exploitation, fueled by the app’s dangerous design and inadequate safety measures. The last time Kik was on the List, they appeared to implement several of our recommendations. We celebrated this, hoping it would be a turning point for safety on the app.
But as time has passed, it’s become abundantly clear: Kik’s apparent safety changes were not what they seemed to be. Today, the app still remains a predator’s paradise.
Ongoing Child Sexual Exploitation on Kik
When a NCOSE employee made a test Kik account with an innocuous username, she did not receive any messages. However, when she made an account with the username “Im12BeNice,” the sexual solicitations began flooding in within seconds. Reporters we have spoken to have also shared receiving sexual messages when they created accounts that advertised being a minor.
Further, we continue to see news headlines on a regular basis of child sexual exploitation on Kik. Here are a few stories from just the last couple months:
June 2, 2026: A repeat sex offender was sentenced to 15 years in prison after sharing numerous files of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on Kik. The abuse material depicted prepubescent children, including infants and toddlers.
May 20, 2026: An Oregon man pled guilty to causing a child to self-produce CSAM and sharing the CSAM on Kik.
April 2026: A 21-year-old man used his Kik account to solicit minors for sex acts and share CSAM, including of infants.
April 2026: A former Nanaimo teacher was arrested for uploading numerous CSAM files to Kik, depicting children being abused by adult men and animals.
Despite 18+ Policy, Kik Has No Age Verification and Allows Obvious Minor Accounts
When Kik was on the Dirty Dozen List, NCOSE urged them to become an 18+ platform with robust age verification to enforce that age limit. While Kik did raise its professed age limit to 18+ (17+ on app stores), they only use age verification in the UK, where they are compelled to by law. The fact that Kik uses age verification in the UK shows that they can do it—but they choose not to in all other markets where they’re not strictly required to by law.
Kik clearly has no intention of identifying and removing minor accounts when usernames like “Im12BeNice” were allowed. Even more disturbingly, the NCOSE employee attempted several usernames professing to be a minor, and was told repeatedly that those usernames were taken. Exactly how many minors are clearly advertising their age on this 18+ platform, while Kik does nothing?
Further, the fact that Kik presents itself as an 18+ platform lets it off the hook for having any parental controls. So, children are still easily able to create accounts while their parents have no way of keeping them safe.
Kik’s Sexual Content Filters Are Grossly Insufficient
One of the changes we previously celebrated was Kik automatically turning on explicit content filters for all accounts. Yet time has shown that this filter is insufficient. All the sexual messages and nude photos the fake 12-year-old account received were with the explicit content filter on.While photos were often blurred upon receipt, one need only click on the photo to immediately unblur it. Sexually explicit text was not blurred.
An NBC reporter we recently spoke to also shared that her fake account “was immediately served pages of sexually explicit activity despite not having had any prior engagement with the platform.”
Further, Kik claimed that it had started monitoring livestreams for nudity and inappropriate content. However, a quick scan of the livestream section shows that a high percentage were clearly still intended to be sexually enticing. Upon joining a livestream, the NCOSE researcher posing as a 12-year-old was asked to send the streamer gifts in order to receive a “hot surprise.” This was after the streamer read the NCOSE researcher’s account name out loud, acknowledging the stated age of 12-years-old. After the NCOSE researcher left the livestream, the streamer proceeded to contact her via private message.
Kik Does NOT Require a Verified Email—or Any Verification
In 2023, Kik claimed that it would now require verified email addresses to make account. Although this was bare minimum security, we celebrated it. But once again, this safety measure is not functioning as promised. A NCOSE employee was able to create a Kik account with an entirely fictional email address.
Kik requires no personal information or verification to create an account. They don’t even require a profile picture. This is all part of their “anonymity” that they are proud to tout. But the unfortunate truth is, anonymous apps like Kik are hotspots for people looking to groom children, trade child sexual abuse material, or otherwise engage in illegal activity.
One convicted sex offender went so far as to call Kik a “predator’s paradise.” And after what we’ve seen, we have to agree.
ACTION: Call on Congress to Pass the Kids Online Safety Act!
The Senate version of the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) would require tech platforms likely to be accessed by children to take reasonable care in preventing foreseeable harms, such as child sexual exploitation. Please urge your representative to support this crucial bill, so that platforms like Kik will be incentivized to take child sexual exploitation seriously!
Contact Congress
Urge Your Representatives to Support the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA)!
NCOSE leads the Coalition to End Sexual Exploitation with over 300 member organizations.
100+
The National Center on Sexual Exploitation has had over 100 policy victories since 2010. Each victory promotes human dignity above exploitation.
93
NCOSE’s activism campaigns and victories have made headlines around the globe. Averaging 93 mentions per week by media outlets and shows such as Today, CNN, The New York Times, BBC News, USA Today, Fox News and more.
93
NCOSE’s activism campaigns and victories have made headlines around the globe. Averaging 93 mentions per week by media outlets and shows such as Today, CNN, The New York Times, BBC News, USA Today, Fox News and more.
100+
The National Center on Sexual Exploitation has had over 100 policy victories since 2010. Each victory promotes human dignity above exploitation.
300+
NCOSE leads the Coalition to End Sexual Exploitation with over 300 member organizations.
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