Do the app stores that children use have enough safeguards to keep harmful apps away from under-18s? IMDA, Singapore's media regulator, ran a local audit of online app stores to find out. The results were released on Oct 24 and reported by The Straits Times.
This was an audit of apps, not a study of children or teens. It did not measure how many young people saw these apps or whether they were harmed. It also does not say how many apps were checked in total, so we cannot tell how common the problem is.
65 apps with harmful themes were found and removed
The audit found 65 objectionable apps. Their content included themes of murder or gambling, or tools that generate non-consensual, sexually explicit images. (That means fake sexual images made of a person without their agreement.) All 65 have been removed.
24 more apps carried the wrong age label
Another 24 apps had sexually suggestive content, or featured crime and drug use, but were not labelled with the right age rating. A label that is too low could make an unsuitable app look fine for a younger user. These 24 labels have now been corrected.
The audit was not all bad news. IMDA said app stores have baseline safety measures in place, with well-implemented age checks. Even so, it stressed that online safety is a shared responsibility between families and app platforms. The article does not say that any of these apps were used by children in Singapore, only that they were found and dealt with.
Habits that help close the gap at home
The Straits Times article lists practical steps for parents, and some are for young people themselves:
- Review apps before exploring them together, and have open conversations about your child's online experiences.
- Use the parental controls available on apps, and help your child set up age-appropriate accounts.
- Report and remove inappropriate apps that threaten your child's online safety.
- For teens: check details and reviews before downloading an app, and go through them with your parents.
- Turn on privacy and safety settings, and keep devices and apps updated.
- If you come across an inappropriate app, report and remove it immediately and seek help from trusted adults.
These are recommended habits from the article, not results tested in a trial. The article does not say how much each step reduces risk, and it does not give advice specific to teens' ages.
Three ways to act on the audit's findings
- Because age labels were wrong on 24 apps, look through an app together before your teen installs it, rather than relying on the rating alone.
- Because 65 harmful apps were found, set up parental controls and age-appropriate accounts on your teen's apps.
- If you or your teen come across an inappropriate app, report and remove it straight away, and ask a trusted adult for help.