Social networks for children, rather useful or dangerous?

Security is the eternal problem of social networks for young people.

The appearance of dedicated platforms also follows the drifts inherent in the coexistence of adults, adolescents and children on the same platform. This is in particular what prompted Facebook to launch Messenger Kids in 2017, a version of its messaging system reserved for 6-12 year olds (Messenger being reserved for Internet users 13 and over), with parental control of each addition of people.

But being on a social network in principle reserved for young people does not guarantee the absence of drifts. Facebook was thus faced in July 2019 with a security breach that let children chat with people who had not been approved by parents.

The FTC accused TikTok of "failing to seek the permission of parents before collecting names, email addresses and other personal information from users under the age of 13", knowing full well that many children were using the app.

The Yubo app has also found itself at the heart of several controversies, following several cases where it has been used to circulate "nudes" (naked photos) of teenagers. The team of the startup reacted by accentuating its controls and by setting up a “moderation which is carried out in real time thanks to algorithms which analyze all that is semantic and visual in order to be able to act as quickly as possible”, details Sacha Lazimi.

As soon as content is detected as inappropriate, Yubo can react "depending on the seriousness of the situation" and thus close the discussion and block the user’s account, either temporarily or permanently. And Yubo supplements these devices with “human moderators” to process reports made by users of the platform.

Yubo has also partnered with the Yoti app, which uses artificial intelligence for identity verification. Yoti uses an age recognition algorithm to see if the one provided by the user matches the one on their identity card. This ability to verify this information is essential for an application that works by age group, mixing minors and adults.

Being on an application reserved for, or geared towards, children and adolescents does not therefore mean that they must lower their level of alertness and the necessary precautions, especially for parents. A social network or chat application are places where young people can be exposed to offensive, inappropriate content and harassment. It is also, as we mentioned for TikTok, a potential risk for the personal data of minors.