Grassroots Campaign To Help Protect Kids From Porn On Social Media
Mar 26, 2019, 7:54 PM | Updated: 9:59 pm
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – A grassroots campaign is going after social media giants Instagram and Snapchat, saying it’s time to police their rating system of 12 plus, because teens have too easy access to porn.
The campaign will be rolled out on Thursday by the National Center on Sexual Exploitation in Washington D.C., but many behind the movement are right here in Utah.
“These app ratings are messed up and you can’t go by the app ratings,” said Collin Kartchner who is a very popular social media activist speaking to thousands of teens across the state and country. “You can stream porn in two clicks and these apps are rated at 12 plus. This is like you sending your kid to a PG-13 movie and in two seconds into it they are watching pornography. If that happened we would be outraged but it’s happening on their phones all day.”
That’s why he’s joining forces with the National Center on Sexual Exploitation on its rollout of Fixappratings.com.
“We just want the same kind of systems that have been put into place for video games or movies where there is an independent review board that just makes sure apps are appropriately rated,” said Hailey Halverson the Vice President of advocacy and outreach with the NCSE. “Really what we want is just greater transparency so that parents and families can make informed decisions.”
Utah Senator Todd Weiler is behind the campaign. He’s written an op-ed to show his support and he’s signed on dozens of lawmakers in Utah to show support for the movement.
“I was shocked, I was really shocked,” said Sen. Weiler about the ease to access porn on Instagram and Snapchat after meeting with campaign organizers. “There’s a danger out there and we want to kind of motivate this industry to start doing some self-policing.”
For more information on the campaign and website go to www.fixappratings.com
