Georgia, other states ask social media sites to let parental control app help monitor content

ATLANTA — Georgia and more than three dozen other states are asking some social media sites to let parental control apps help monitor the content.

Channel 2′s Dave Huddleston spoke with some experts about how easy it is for kids to run into inappropriate material.

Titania Jordan is chief parenting officer for Bark — a website that monitors children’s online activities to keep them away from inappropriate and sexual content.

“A lot of parents think, ‘Not my kid. My kid would never.’ Or they think, ‘If my kid does, I’ll know about it.’ I’m here to tell you, you are wrong,” Jordan said.

She said that predators are constantly trying to reach out to kids. Jordan showed Huddleston how it only took seconds before someone asked if they wanted sex with children and drugs.

“Yo, hit me up. The boy got that gas,” Jordan said reading a message.

Jordan also pointed out pictures of children with explicit questions. She said parents also have to be aware children can get into trouble.

Some emoji’s have a double meaning.

TRENDING STORIES:

• Water rescues, heavy flooding reported in parts of metro Atlanta
• Trees fall on homes, powerlines as storms move through North Georgia
• Parents want Medical Examiners Office held responsible for missing son’s remains

“Let’s do the peach emoji, since we’re in the state of Georgia. Well — booty,” is what Jordan said the emoji means.

The emoji leads to pictures of women’s rear ends.

The word seggs means sex and when you see the term “a plug …”

“A plug is a hookup for drugs or other things on the DL,” Jordan said.

In November, Channel 2 Action News did a special on protecting your children online from predators and explicit material.

Just last week, Georgia and 43 other states sent Snapchat and TikTok a letter asking the companies to allow third-party parental sites like Bark to help monitor those sites for inappropriate content.

TikTok said it cares about protecting and supporting younger users and Snapchat said it has safety settings available that parents can use to keep kids safe.

IN OTHER NEWS:

Storms bring damage to parts of Atlanta, severe weather chaser 2

©2022 Cox Media Group