"A startup called Wizz is clearly the latter, in the darkest sense imaginable. Peddling "age-appropriate engagement" for users as young as 13, Wizz is a French app built on the "swipe left or right" framework typical of dating apps like Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge. Given the massive rise in child predation enabled by social media, that's a huge responsibility - and one Wizz has fallen way short of."
"In noted by The Hill, Wizz has been implicating in a predictably stunning number of child sexual abuse incidents. Though the app claims to use "sophisticated AI safety algorithms for age verification" in order to sort users by age, real world examples show these safeguards aren't enough to deter child predators. In Hawai'i, for example, an 11-year-old girl who had been sexually assaulted by an active-duty US Marine told police they had first met on Wizz."
"Despite the app's "ironclad policies," the 19-year-old perpetrator had allegedly posed as a 15-year-old, which the AI safety algorithm had failed to catch. Other examples abound, like a 23-year-old pretending to be 14 in order to sexually assault an actual 14-year-old, or a 27-year-old claiming to be 16 in order to rape multiple underage girls. After receiving pushback from the company, The Hill even tested the verification system with a 28-year-old staffer, who was able to register an account as a 16-year-old."
Wizz is a French app that uses a swipe-left-or-right interface to connect users as young as 13. The app claims to employ sophisticated AI age-verification algorithms, but real-world incidents demonstrate those safeguards are insufficient. Multiple cases involve adults posing as teenagers to sexually assault minors, including an 11-year-old who met an alleged attacker on the platform. Testing by The Hill showed a 28-year-old staffer could register as 16, exposing verification weaknesses. Media coverage and consumer watchdogs have increased scrutiny and pressure on the platform.
Read at Futurism
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