A cyber safety expert has claimed that social media sensation Tiktok is ‘a magnet for pedophiles’ and children are not safe.
Susan McLean said to Daily Mail Australia that the app is ‘not safe’ for children because of privacy, bullying and grooming fears.
Tiktok, which is now more popular than Snapchat, requires users to be only 13 years old to create an account. Users can also be contacted by anyone unless they keep their profile private.
But even then, anyone can make requests to view their videos and photos, and even pretend to be a kid.
A former Victoria police cyber safety specialist, Ms. McLean said: “TikTok is not a safe app and there are many concerns, not the least bullying and grooming by predators.
“Any app that allows communication can be used by predators.”
The cyber safety expert also warned that the app has been known to fail to delete suspicious accounts.
“TikTok does not have the same safety sessions as some of the more well-known apps and routinely do not remove accounts that have been flagged as potentially a predator,” she added.
“Paedophiles like to watch kids sing and dance so they can take the videos and share them.
“The data gathering is a huge concern and if the government is worried then it is not a place for kids.”
Her remarks come after an investigation found that children as young as 8 were being groomed on the popular app.
TikTok explained on its websites that parents can set their children’s profile to private but also admitted that “even with a private account, profile information – including profile photo, username, and bio – will be visible to all users.”
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Replaced!