Social media and smartphone apps are now an integral part of society, and for many younger people they are the sole source of communication with their friends and peers. The apps allow them to maintain friendships and make new friends in faraway places. And while millions continue to communicate through popular social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat, new apps continue to be released and online predators are among the first to sign up.
The fact of the matter is, if parents and others are only looking for suspicious activity on those most popular apps then they are likely already behind. NBC 7, in conjunction with the San Diego County Human Trafficking Task Force, put together this list of 11 lesser-known apps where online predators are likely hiding, looking for their next child that they can groom for a life of sex trafficking.
LiveMe: A video chat app that allows users to livestream videos and find out a broadcaster's exact location. Marketed for those over 13 years old, LiveMe users regardless of age can reward and tempt others with virtual currency. According to an investigation by Fox11 in Los Angeles , pedophiles were found paying for sexually-explicit photos of girls as young as 5 years old.
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ASKfm: A Latvian social media network that allows users to ask anonymous questions to users across the globe. The app has been called out for promoting cyberbullying and law enforcement warns it could serve as a meeting place for online sex predators to groom their next victim.
