APPS WITH MISLEADING RATINGS AND DESCRIPTIONS
SNAPCHAT (12+)
App Store says: infrequent/mild sexual content and nudity, alcohol, drug use, profanity, and suggestive themes.
Reality: sextortion, pornography, prostitution and sex trafficking, monetized accounts for sex acts, minimal parental controls, Discover news articles frequently push: porn, risky sexual behaviors, sexting, drugs and alcohol. Recommended: 17+
NETFLIX (4+)
App Store says: because it's 4+, no content warnings included.
Reality: poor parental controls, regularly recommends TV-MA, R, and NC-17 content next to child content, originally-produced content depicts: graphic sexual violence, normalizing sex trafficking of minors and gratuitous nudity. Recommended: 17+
INSTAGRAM (12+)
App Store says: infrequent/mild sexual content and nudity, alcohol, drug use, profanity, and suggestive themes.
Reality: sex trafficking and prostitution, self-harm, cyberbullying, pornography, nudity, animal abuse, lack of strong reporting, lack of parental controls, unrestricted web access, no age verification, drugs and alcohol, child abuse and sexual abuse images. Recommended: 17+
FACEBOOK (12+)
App Store says: infrequent/mild sexual content and nudity, alcohol, drug use, profanity, and suggestive themes.
Reality: fake news, sextortion, nudity, sex trafficking and bullying, child abuse rings, grooming, bullying, minimal parental controls, unrestricted web access through platform. Recommended: 17+
TIKTOK (12+)
App Store says: infrequent/mild sexual content and nudity, alcohol, drug use, profanity, and suggestive themes.
Reality: predators, sextortion, nudity, bullying, lack of reporting, minimal age verification, unrestricted web access. Recommended: 17+
EPISODE (12+)
App Store says: infrequent/mild sexual content and nudity, alcohol, drug use, profanity, suggestive, and horror/fear themes.
Reality: alcohol, hook up, group and other risky sex discussed, frequent adult themes, marketed in child gaming apps. Recommended: 17+
GROUP ME (4+)
App Store says: because it's 4+, no content warnings included.
Reality: categorized as social networking but has a 4+ age rating, unrestricted web access, pornography and child sexual abuse material exchanged on platform. Recommended: 17+
TWITTER (17+)
App Store: says: infrequent/mild sexual content and nudity.
Reality: rated 4+ by Apple for years, Apple and Google break their own “no porn in apps” policy for Twitter while cracking down on others. The app includes hardcore pornography rampant, prostitution and sex trafficking, child sexual abuse images and discussion, total lack of parental controls, unrestricted web access, no age verification. Recommended: Adult only
VPNs (4+)
App Store says: because they're 4+, no content warnings included.
Reality: allows for secret and anonymous web browsing, kids often use on school networks and to hide online behavior from parents, circumvents parental and content controls. Recommended: 17+