Yubo is a social discovery app from France aimed at a Gen Z audience. It’s an app to make friends, find like minded individuals, share passions and find connections. It is now strengthening its partnership with INHOPE to ensure the platform is as safe as can possibly be.
The app has been very successful in its goal of being a hub for Gen Z. The app has over 10 million downloads on Android devices, and 330,000+ ratings on the Apple Store. The app has attracted a large audience of Gren Z to its platform. But that concentration of young people, unfortunately does mean it is a place that bad actors and perpetrators are attracted to as well. They view it as a place rife for their nefarious activities. INHOPE is the International Hotline for Operators of Europe and its mission is to combat the spread of child sexual abuse material.
Yubo has been collaborating with the organisation since 2021 but has announced a partnership that will see Yubo help fund the INHOPE service. Sharone Franco, Yubo Head of Public Policy said:
“Collaborating with leading online safety organisations like INHOPE Network is a crucial component of Yubo’s commitment to continually improving our safety infrastructure. The support and expertise of INHOPE has been invaluable to our team, and we look forward to expanding our relationship to continue to support INHOPE’s fight against CSAM (Child Sexual Abuse Material).”
INHOPE has 52 hotlines in 48 countries that are there to report and help remove illegal content flagged by its analyst. When illegal content is discovered, the content is reported to the relevant national enforcement agency and ISP in the relevant country.
Yubo continues to demonstrate its high commitment to security on the platform. When your audience for social discovery is young teens and adults – there is no limit to the safeguarding and safety measures welcome on such platforms. They need to be kept as safe spaces for young people to express themself and connect with other people their age. The moment they are places of exploitation, they have failed. Any start-ups, companies in the space of social discovery aimed at young people should take security just as seriously. It cannot be an afterthought.
