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Mom Logs Onto Popular Kids Music App, Finds Horror Far Worse Than Porn Waiting

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One mother recently wrote about her experience on a popular music app that her 10-year-old daughter wanted to download, and revealed that there are things far worse than porn on it.

Anastasia Basil wrote on Medium that although “Musical.ly looks innocent,” it is “user uploaded content by millions of people who can also live stream,” which is how the mother ran into porn on the app.

But that wasn’t even the the worst part.

“Porn is not the worst thing on Musical.ly. The worst thing is watching little kids (as young as eight) sexually objectify themselves,” she said.

According to Basil, the kids with the most followers “get it right” when it comes to being sexy, but those who “get it wrong” are made fun of in comments and on “Musical.ly Cringe Compilation” videos posted on YouTube.

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“My heart hurts not only for the exploited children, but for all kids who scroll Musical.ly (or YouTube) and see this kind of ugly play out,” she wrote.

She pointed out that there is a crude code language used on the app that gets past any filters the app has, but the codes change “week-to-week” so it’s hard to keep up.

There are also hashtags for different musical.ly videos that include #killingstalking, #selfharm, #anorexic and #suicide.

“Each hashtag is its own magical wardrobe, a portal into a world where it’s always winter but never Christmas,” Basil wrote. “It’s Narnia minus Aslan.”

Are you worried about kids on social media?

The concerned mother also outlined the dangers of children on social media, even if they have private accounts.

“Most parents are careful about who and what their child is exposed to,” Basil wrote. “Setting your child’s account to private may make him invisible but he’s still there, fully present, taking it all in.”

She added, “Social media is the Costco of human imagination,” where so many things are available to children in cyberspace.

Basil pointed out that even parental controls can’t help sometimes. She used the example of Gabriella Green, a 12-year-old who killed herself after being bullied online.

Fox News reported that the minors who were charged with cyberstalking in connection to Green’s death admitted they knew “that said conduct would result in emotional distress.”

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“And no, you can’t always review what your kid says (or what’s said to your kid) because most of it can be deleted or deletes itself directly after transmission,” Basil said.

On Musical.ly, the mother also said that there are kids trying to save other kids from themselves.

“Kids should be watching witty cartoons, riding bikes, making slime, doing art, playing Minecraft, learning chess and boring us with bad magic tricks,” she wrote. “They shouldn’t be stopping other kids from killing themselves.”

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Erin Coates was an editor for The Western Journal for over two years before becoming a news writer. A University of Oregon graduate, Erin has conducted research in data journalism and contributed to various publications as a writer and editor.
Erin Coates was an editor for The Western Journal for over two years before becoming a news writer. She grew up in San Diego, California, proceeding to attend the University of Oregon and graduate with honors holding a degree in journalism. During her time in Oregon, Erin was an associate editor for Ethos Magazine and a freelance writer for Eugene Magazine. She has conducted research in data journalism, which has been published in the book “Data Journalism: Past, Present and Future.” Erin is an avid runner with a heart for encouraging young girls and has served as a coach for the organization Girls on the Run. As a writer and editor, Erin strives to promote social dialogue and tell the story of those around her.
Birthplace
Tucson, Arizona
Nationality
American
Honors/Awards
Graduated with Honors
Education
Bachelor of Arts in Journalism, University of Oregon
Books Written
Contributor for Data Journalism: Past, Present and Future
Location
Prescott, Arizona
Languages Spoken
English, French
Topics of Expertise
Politics, Health, Entertainment, Faith




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