DENVER -- A non-profit has launched an online petition demanding the popular app Musical.ly remove all pornographic and adult content immediately.
"After looking at the application, that this is not a place for pornography. There's a ton of kids on this app," said Joshua Tijerina, CEO of The Halycyon Movement who started the online petition. "The inappropriate content that I actually came up against was, what looked like 10-year-old kids."
Musical.ly allows users to create and their own lip-synced videos. The app has more than a hundred million users worldwide and a lot of them are young kids, which is why the Halycyon Movement said it got involved.
"We connect truth to action for social good," explained Tijerina.
The petition comes after Denver7 first reported on cases in Jefferson County where predators had targeted kids on the app and the inability to control what your child searches for within the app, which can be pornographic.
"They have a responsibility as an organization," said Tijerina.
In just a week, he said more than 2,000 people have signed the petition.
"Musical.ly please take this very seriously, and protect the children that use your app," said Tijerina.
He said he hopes the growing chorus of parents will convince Musical.ly to make changes.
"A lot of people want this content either managed or you need to alert parents that that content is on your app," said Tijerina.
Click here to sign the petition.
Musical.ly was unable to provide Denver7 with any new information and would not comment on the petition. A spokesperson recycled the same statement from a previous report.
musical.ly prioritizes the safety of our users and strives to ensure that all musical.ly users can enjoy our application without abuse or threats from any other user. We take appropriate measures to expeditiously remove offensive or inappropriate content from the musical.ly app and have protocols in place to block a range of words that violate our terms of service including phrases deemed to be inappropriate. When a user flags content as inappropriate, it is removed from the platform within 15 minutes. Users can set their account to private to ensure only the friends they know can follow them. In addition, messages from friends are clearly identified from unknown senders so users can tell who is contacting them and can decide whether to engage. Our users can also block any other user from contacting them and they can report abusive users or communications to us through the application. In addition, we are implementing machine-learning technology to scan messages to block spam and inappropriate content. We also encourage parents to monitor their child's account, report inappropriate behavior, and have an open dialogue with children about responsible and safe behaviors for all online activity.
The app also encourages parents to review it's 'parent' section for additional information/resources.
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