An alarming new investigation carried out by child safety groups is shedding light on a startling phenomenon. This has to do with a long list of apps that might not prove to be exactly what they claim.
In just a 24-hour timeframe, the report says that both Heat Initiative and Parents Together Action highlighted more about the rise in risky apps that come with deceiving ratings. Despite being called kid-friendly and suitable for those four and above, they’re far from it. The apps discovered were all up for grabs on Apple’s App Store, the study highlighted.
The report came after these groups worked alongside researchers to analyze many apps in just 24 hours. More than 200 platforms had features or content of massive concern. Amongst those raising eyebrows were Stranger Chat and AI girlfriend platforms.
Meanwhile, gaming apps were also highlighted that featured violence and sexual images. There were even Appearance rating apps powered by AI that were nowhere near suitable for kids' labels. For now, Apple has yet to reach out for comments on the matter.
The goal of the research focused on platforms with assigned age ratings of 4, 9, and 12 or above in domains considered risky. Amongst those were diet, weight loss, beauty, gaming, and chat. The report claims more than 24 games had sexual features while 9 stranger chat platforms were outlined as appropriate.
The study also spoke about 40 apps having unfiltered access to the web and close to 75 having to do with beauty, weight loss, and body images. There were some featuring crime and shootings that could really impact young minds.
As a whole, 200 were called downright offensive and that’s a high figure for just 24 hours. They were installed more than 550M times as per the groups.
This study analyzed 800 apps in total and found many categories were more risky than others of featuring explicit material not suitable for children despite having very low age ratings.
While stranger chat apps might come with 17+ labels, those having to do with diet and weight loss raised eyebrows as they came with 4-year and above ratings. This is why the study is asking Apple to take action and do a better job in terms of child safety rules.
Suggestions for reviews by third parties might be a great solution before they’re publicly released. This makes it more transparent and hence reliable for users.
Image: DIW-Aigen
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In just a 24-hour timeframe, the report says that both Heat Initiative and Parents Together Action highlighted more about the rise in risky apps that come with deceiving ratings. Despite being called kid-friendly and suitable for those four and above, they’re far from it. The apps discovered were all up for grabs on Apple’s App Store, the study highlighted.
The report came after these groups worked alongside researchers to analyze many apps in just 24 hours. More than 200 platforms had features or content of massive concern. Amongst those raising eyebrows were Stranger Chat and AI girlfriend platforms.
Meanwhile, gaming apps were also highlighted that featured violence and sexual images. There were even Appearance rating apps powered by AI that were nowhere near suitable for kids' labels. For now, Apple has yet to reach out for comments on the matter.
The goal of the research focused on platforms with assigned age ratings of 4, 9, and 12 or above in domains considered risky. Amongst those were diet, weight loss, beauty, gaming, and chat. The report claims more than 24 games had sexual features while 9 stranger chat platforms were outlined as appropriate.
The study also spoke about 40 apps having unfiltered access to the web and close to 75 having to do with beauty, weight loss, and body images. There were some featuring crime and shootings that could really impact young minds.
As a whole, 200 were called downright offensive and that’s a high figure for just 24 hours. They were installed more than 550M times as per the groups.
This study analyzed 800 apps in total and found many categories were more risky than others of featuring explicit material not suitable for children despite having very low age ratings.
While stranger chat apps might come with 17+ labels, those having to do with diet and weight loss raised eyebrows as they came with 4-year and above ratings. This is why the study is asking Apple to take action and do a better job in terms of child safety rules.
Suggestions for reviews by third parties might be a great solution before they’re publicly released. This makes it more transparent and hence reliable for users.
Read next: OpenAI Shares How It Trained Its New o1 and o3 Reasoning Models Including New Safety Paradigm
