A popular new social app aimed at teens has been compared to Tinder and is causing serious child safety concerns.
A new social app called Yellow is causing concern after parents discovered the app essentially turns Snapchat into Tinder for teenagers.
The app’s makers describe it as “A new social media to meet new friends and have fun with them. Friendship is going to the next level!” and is supposed to be aimed at those age 17 years and over. However, the app store rating stands at 12+ on the basis of:
“Infrequent/mild profanity or crude humour, alcohol, tobacco, or drug use or references, sexual content and nudity, mild mature/suggestive themes.”
One concerned mum told Fox31 News that the app initially looked harmless when she came across it on her daughter’s phone:
“I started looking in the folder and found this app called Yellow, which looked really kind of harmless. It’s just this yellow square. Basically, it’s Tinder for kids. You match with various people, just like the dating app, you swipe left or right and become friends with them.
I started to click on profiles, or whatever you call them, and there were some boys who asked not so nice things. My daughter didn’t know what it meant. She is 12 years old. I don’t know why an app would be out there for a 12-year-old to match with a 17-year-old. It’s just terrifying.”
Many profiles on Yellow feature children who are clearly under the age of 17 and the anonymity of the app leaves worrying potential for adults to pose as a much younger individual:
“These boys she’s friends with were supposedly 14 but they could have been 40, for all we know.”
