As TikTok Fails to Remove Exploiters from the App, Users Are Starting to Revolt
TikTok’s users have increasingly taken it upon themselves to “out” sexual exploiters using the popular video social media app because TikTok has fallen short of ridding the platform from those who prey upon young minors. As Buzzfeed reports: “One of the most popular kinds of videos from TikTok’s users, who are mostly young and female, are…
TikTok Safety Tools Are Turning Off After 30 Days and Putting Kids in Danger
With more than 500 million active users worldwide, TikTok is a social media video app for creating and sharing short videos and the app is well known for being popular with minors. TikTok has been placed on the 2020 Dirty Dozen List due to lack of moderation and insufficient safety controls, which put minors at risk of exposure…
1 in 20 Kids Are Being Asked to Undress During Livestreams
TikTok has facilitated a space for sexual grooming by abusers or sex traffickers. These abusers or traffickers utilize TikTok to view minor users and either comment and/or message these minors with sexually explicit content. An advocacy group accurately called TikTok a “hunting ground” for predators to abuse children and Forbes identified TikTok as a “magnet…
Progress Report! Comcast Improves Streaming and Internet Tools to Better Protect Families
We have an exciting update from the National Center on Sexual Exploitation’s recent meeting with top executives from Comcast here in Washington DC. Right away they told us about how they took our feedback and concerns from our meeting last year and how they have made key improvements based on that feedback! While we are…
20 Child Safety Groups Call on Congress: Stop Google Before It Jeopardizes Online Child Safety
On September 17, 2019, 20 child safety and anti-trafficking organizations sent a letter below to Congressional committee leaders raising serious alarms about Google and Mozilla/Cloudfare’s plans to centralize control of the internet’s Domain Name System (DNS) system in a way that could undermine or block online child protection tools and services. Google and Mozilla/Cloudfare have…
Parental Controls Guide for Netflix, Apple TV, Amazon, Roku and Kindle Fire
If you are a parent concerned with the media your child may have access to, you are not alone. Fortunately, most major programs and devices offer some form of parental control, and while these controls are often far from perfect, they can be extremely useful in protecting those we love from harmful material. This blog…
He was exposed to pornography at age 11, on his school laptop
Schools are supposed to be safe learning environments, where technology is an educational benefit. However, over the past several years, it’s become clear that schools are not doing enough to protect children from being exposed to pornography on school grounds or school electronic devices. One young man recalls how he was exposed to pornography at…