Answers have expertise in handling issues surrounding teenagers and family, especially those involving the internet, chat rooms and potential blackmail or corruption. See the BBC News
Social networking websites run rampant in the world of the World Wide Web and there are many legitimate uses that a person can have for all major websites, like Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram or MySpace. Unfortunately, not everyone does have good intentions, but instead there are those people who carry the concept of social networking to feed their own habits - stalkers finding an innocent teenager to stalk and prey on, groomers who look for adolescents to commit their next crime, and others who only use social networking websites as a way to continue statistics of crime
Age Restrictions There are age restrictions to using Snapchat and you cannot have a Facebook account if you are young. The age restrictions for Snapchat, however, include not being able to create an account unless you are at least 13 years old, but self-declared. Facebook's Terms state that users can use a Facebook account if they are 13 years of age or older. It has been reported that almost a quarter of children aged between eight and twelve have been evading the age restrictions that have been put in place
These results were taken from a poll commissioned by Garlik; it shows that over 75,000 children are illicitly using the sites. The alarming fact shows that children are allowing themselves to become exposed to communicate with strangers. Tom Ilube, chief executive of Garlik has said “The fact that parents feel compelled to monitor their children on this scale should send a powerful message to the big social networking sites.”
Snapchat - often referred to as “the sexting apps account", like any media-sharing service Snapchat can be and is used for sexting, harassment & other predatory practices. Snapchat runs on the Apple iPhone and Android phones but it also runs on iPad, Android tablets and iPod Touch, which are often used by very young children. A BeatBullying poll showed that some 24% of eight-year-olds had used Snapchat; concerns are growing about online safety for its army of young users
Facebook does not have any safety precautions when it comes to the safety of children under 16 years old. Facebook's terms state that children under 18 are not allowed an account unless they are in Year 12 (equivalent) or above, but this is not to say that 13 year olds cannot have Facebook accounts and falsify the information they pass along to Facebook who do not have to verify the teen's account. The openness of information on Facebook, while authored by the user, can sometimes lead them to become victims of blackmail
The only information required when signing up for Instagram is an email address and desired username. Though they ask for a phone number, it’s very clear during sign up that this is optional. By default, anyone can view the photographs, including the geo-location data showing where it was taken and uploaded. While there are tools for reporting/blocking users and inappropriate content, people will, and do upload nude photos; for example in less than one minute we found bestiality photos when conducting a 'friends' search
The Dangers for children on the internet and social media sites
BBC London News report on "Undercover Teenagents" uncovering Social media traps
This Morning TV interview two of our Investigators in a live broadcast
