Is this really the future we want for our children? Applications full of questionable content, presented as harmless, downloadable with a simple click and intended even for children. The new report from the organizations Heat Initiative and ParentsTogether Action, entitled “Rotten Ratings: 24 Hours in Apple’s App Store”raises an alarm that we cannot afford to ignore: Over 200 “risky” apps are rated as suitable for children aged 4 to 12 on the Apple App Store.
Chats with strangers, games with sexual or violent themes, artificial intelligence apps that judge our physical appearance: these are just some examples of the applications analyzed in a study that involved around 800 apps in just 24 hours.
When the App Store becomes a “minefield” for children
The study examined applications with age ratings of 4+, 9+ and 12+, focusing on highly critical categories such as:
And the result is a punch in the stomach: 24 games with sexual themes, 9 apps for chatting with strangers, 40 apps for browsing unfiltered sites and 75 related to body image have been classified as suitable for younger children.
To give you an idea of the scale of the problem, these apps have cumulatively accumulated more than that 550 million downloads. Yes, you read that right. We are faced with numbers that speak for themselves.
Apple, it’s time to do something: researchers’ requests
Although in some categories – such as chats with strangers – Apple has correctly assigned restrictions for an audience over the age of 17, in others the situation is disastrous. Apps related to weight loss or unfiltered internet access, for example, are almost always rated as suitable for children as young as 4 years old.
It’s not just a mistake: it’s a failure. And organizations are calling on Apple to do more. Much more. Among the proposals:
For now, no official response from Cupertino, but the question remains on the table. If a tech giant like Apple can’t provide adequate safety for little ones, how can we expect others to do better?
Perhaps the time has come to stop blindly trusting these reassuring labels. It is our duty to monitor, verify and test. And if necessary, say “no”. Because, in the end, the safety of the little ones is more important than any app.
