Wizz app, popular with teens, is removed from the App Store and Play Store

Wizz app, popular with teens, is removed from the App Store and Play Store،

Apple and Google both removed the Wizz app from their respective app storefronts this week. Wizz is a popular social media app among American teenagers. According to NBC NewsThe app's alleged use in sextortion scams led the National Center on Sexual Exploitation to email Apple and Apple removed the app from the App Store.

NBC News was able to review some emails and reported that one from an Apple representative at the center said, “We take App Store violations seriously and appreciate your awareness.” The app has been removed from the Store and we are in contact with the developer. Google suspended the app from the Play Store on Tuesday, citing its child endangerment policy that requires apps to “prohibit users from creating, uploading, or distributing content that facilitates child exploitation or abuse.

The National Center on Sexual Exploitation thanked Apple and Google in a tweet for removing the app.

In a tweet posted yesterday, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation thanked Apple and Google for removing Wizz. “We are happy to THANK @AppStore and @GooglePlay for launching the Wizz app from their app stores after our awareness – this app connected children with strangers, leading to abuse and abuse. This social responsibility step is vital for online safety!”

Wizz app, popular with teenagers, is removed from the App Store and Play Store

Wizz hopes to return to both the App Store and the Play Store. An emailed statement from a Wizz spokesperson said: “Apple and Google are seeking more information about our app, and we are working closely with their teams to clarify our platform's extended safeguards for users . We hope to resolve this issue soon.” Although it hopes for a return to the App Store and Play Store, Wizz has not said what it plans to do to get Apple and Google to reinstate the app.

Wizz, which has been compared to Tinder, says on its website: “Welcome to Wizz, where fun comes from the unexpected. Wizz is the ultimate online platform for random chats with people from around the world.” The app allows users to scroll through profiles displaying a person's photo, first name, age, state and zodiac sign. The app billed itself as a “safe space” where users as young as 13 can make age-appropriate friends.

Teenagers have committed suicide due to the shame of being caught in a sextortion scam

However, a study by the nonprofit Network Contagion Research Institute, which studies online hate and crime, indicates that the Wizz app has been used in financial sextortion scams. With such scams, adult criminals trick children and teens into sending them explicit photos online. The criminals then threaten to publicly post the explicit photos or share them with parents, other relatives and friends unless they make online payments to the criminals. These payments may include cash, gift cards or cryptocurrencies. Some victims felt so ashamed that they committed suicide.

The study notes that “Some victims report being the target of sextortion within minutes of joining the app, suggesting that criminals have saturated Wizz.” Subscribers claimed the app was “delivering pornographic ads to minors.”

Alex Goldenberg, director of intelligence at the Network Contagion Research Institute, said: “Wizz has approximately 20 million active users. But if the App Store doesn't continue to offer it, they won't be able to maintain, let alone grow, their user base. “.

Goldenberg also said the app's age verification system wasn't powerful enough. “We've seen bad actors who can bypass age verification facial recognition by asking their cousin or brother to take a selfie, and then they launch onto the platform,” he said. “And it's not just threat actors: if you're under 13, it's very easy to ask an older sibling to have their photo taken, too.”