Urgent warning over Yubo app with fears ‘Tinder for teens’ exposes kids as young as 13 to sexual and racist messages
PARENTS have been warned their children could be exposed to sexual and racist messages on an app dubbed "Tinder for teens".
Yubo has over 20million users worldwide including thousands in the UK and allows teenagers to interact with each other.
Users swipe to accept or decline to talk to someone based on their profile picture, and can add friends while live streaming.
Yubo says it monitors user profiles and messages for inappropriate content.
But an investigation by the Sunday Times found young users are exposed to sexual harassment, racism and bullying.
A reporter posing as a 15-year-old girl found often users asked her for nude photos and suggested having sex.
A lot of conversations also involved self-harm, suicide, and drug use.
Meanwhile schools have issued urgent warnings to parents about Yubo.
Most read in The Sun
Headteachers said in a newsletter: “Due to the nature of this app, your child may come across content that is not appropriate to them”.
It comes as social media bosses face paying hefty fines if they do not cooperate with online safety regulations under the new Online Safety Bill.
The new rules see media companies removing illegal and inappropriate content, especially for young users.
Yubo was created by three French engineering students and has reached millions of users around the world.
The app has a minimum age of 13 and anyone under 17 has to confirm they have the permission of a parent or guardian.
A spokesperson for Yubo told the Times: "We are saddened to learn of the journalist’s experience and can only apologise for the way she and others have been impacted during this time on our platform.
"We’re taking the investigation by The Sunday Times extremely seriously and have instigated an immediate review of the safety features and how they may have failed.
"Our users and their safety always have, and always will, come first.”
For extra online security, check out our pick of the best VPN services in 2022 and the best VPNs for Netflix.
We pay for your stories!
Do you have a story for The Sun news desk?
Email us at exclusive@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4104. You can WhatsApp us on 07423 720 250. We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours
Click here to get The Sun newspaper delivered for FREE for the next six weeks.