CHARLOTTE, N.C. — NBC Charlotte discovered children are able to access porn on Snapchat with only five clicks.
“A child predator’s dream" -- that’s what US Senator Marsha Blackburn is calling Snapchat. She sent a formal letter to the company’s CEO, demanding they put a stop to explicit content shared on the app.
Snapchat says they prohibit accounts that promote or distribute pornographic content, but the NBC Charlotte Defenders team found it easily, and that means so could your kids.
If there’s a teen in your life, chances are they use Snapchat. Internet safety group Protect Young Eyes says it also has a dark side.
“Pornographic content is readily accessible,” Doug Crawford said.
Crawford, a director with Protect Young Eyes, says they were able to access porn on Snapchat in just five steps.
“It’s not that difficult," Crawford said. "They do some searches and find these accounts whether intentionally or unintentionally.”
Senator Blackburn issued a letter to Snapchat’s CEO, giving the company a July 29 deadline to respond to the discovery of this explicit content, and saying they’re not doing enough to protect minors from x-rated content.
Snapchat is rated 12+ in the app store, and the company says they prohibit pornographic content. But Crawford says porn stars are easily skirting the moderators, as there are plenty of active accounts.
NBC Charlotte's Savannah Levins asked Crawford who is supposed to regulate the app ratings.
“At this point no one," Crawford said. "Apple and Google, when an app is submitted they kind of give it a rating.”
That’s why they’ve joined forces with a group called Fix App Ratings to lobby in Congress for federal regulations when it comes to rating apps.
Senator Blackburn is just the latest to get on board.
“We have within video games, movies, music, and television external app rating systems but we don’t have that with online apps,” Crawford said.
In response to the accusations, Snapchat said in a statement:
"Nothing is more important to us than the trust and safety of our community, and we take a zero tolerance approach around these issues. We’ve designed Snapchat with no browsable public profiles, and by default you can’t receive a message or share location with someone you haven't added as a friend on the app. We work hard to detect, prevent and stop any abuse on our platform, and continue to work proactively with governments, law enforcement and best in class safety organizations to ensure that Snapchat continues to be a positive and safe environment."
You can block porn domains in the settings of your child’s phone, under content restrictions. Snapchat doesn't have public profiles, so strangers aren't able to browse for minors. This means minors can't receive a message from someone they haven't added as a friend.
Additionally, Snapchat offers in-app reporting and blocking. Snapchat also said they report instances of child sexual abuse to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.