Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey and security expert Robert Siciliano warn that apps like MyLOL, Kik, Ask.fm, and YouTube expose kids to predators, sexting, and cyberbullying. They cite recent local cases and urge parents to monitor what their children download.
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So everyone's heading back to school, and kids and teens are of course going to pick up the newest technology fast. And that means that they could be using apps that could put them in danger, and you might not even realize it.
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, all popular, but Fox 25 uncovered the obscure apps that should keep you on alert. Each day it seems your kids are using a new app to talk with friends and even strangers. Savvy online predators are manipulating the technology and luring children.
We see this in some of our child pornography cases and our human trafficking cases. We know that increasingly technology and the use of social media is a growing form of the way that predators lure and seek to interact with young people. So it's a really dangerous area.
Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey says increasing threats to young people are surfacing more and more in her investigations.
And when we become aware of allegations of wrongdoing, we look to take swift and strong action.
There are countless apps available, free to download and easy to fall off a parent's radar. We investigated which apps they already know about, and you should too. Like MyLOL. A 27-year-old Norwell man was arrested for aggravated statutory rape of a child he allegedly met on the social media site and app. Experts say parents beware of MyLOL.
MyLOL basically is a Tinder for teens, and Tinder is a dating app for adults. It's, uh, not unconventional for a 14-year-old to be contacted by a 25-year-olds.
A North Brookvale man is facing federal child pornography charges after authorities say he was sexting with teenage girls as young as 14 on the app Kik. It basically lets you text without any record of it on a phone bill.
So Kik is like an old-school texting app that also involves SMS, or short message service. Kik, like any other app, would require a username and a password, and if parents don't have access to it, then they're not going to know what the kids has going on.
Ask.fm, another app that should be on parents' radars.
You can ask questions, you can post messages, and the questions often revolve around sexual fantasies. It can get somewhat degrading.
Ask.fm has been blamed for cyberbullying and even teen suicide. Parents should be aware that apps and websites they might think of as harmless may have hidden uses and dangers.
YouTube, to a certain degree, is the wild, wild web. I mean, you have millions of people that are paying attention to YouTube. They're commenting, they're posting links, they're saying anything and everything and posting everything. And while it's policed, there's just too much information pumping in and pumping out for YouTube or Google to take it down. So lots of cyberbullying going on, lots of links to live porn, and lots of links to all types of criminal activity as well.
It's important to note these apps are not doing anything illegal, and they have policies and safeguards in place. All of the app makers agree that any abuse needs to be reported immediately. There are tools and resources for parents and children to combat online predators and cyberbullying. Log on to our website, myfoxboston.com, and click on the Back to School
