Pornographic advertising, “sextortion”… what is the Wizz application and why is it controversial ?

L'application a été supprimée des boutiques de Google et Apple. MAXPPP – LP/Olivier Arandel

The French application is accused by a recent American study of distributing pornography to minors. Some even use the platform to extort money from minors, by threatening them with sharing intimate photos. 

Launched in 2019 by Voodoo, a French publisher of mobile games, Wizz is an application with a “Tinderian” feel, allowing users to connect to groups of people from around the world. same age. Accessible from 13 years old, Wizz presents itself as a "safe space".

People targeted by sexts shortly after registration

However, according to a recent study by the Network Contagion Research Institute, a non-profit organization working on the spread of extremism and hatred online, several people have used the application to defraud young people via sextortion (extortion via the internet of sexual or other favors such as extortion of money following blackmail webcam).

The study specifies: "Some victims report having been targeted by sexts a few minutes after joining the application, which suggests that the criminals have saturated Wizz".

Users have even alerted that the application "was broadcasting pornographic advertisements to minors".

The National Center Against Sexual Exploitation, an American organization responsible for combating sexual abuse and exploitation, then took up the matter by contacting the supplier at pomme (Apple) to communicate its concerns regarding cases of sextortion on the application, reports BFMTV.

Immediately removed from the Apple Store and Google Play

Apple immediately reacted by removing Wizz from the Apple Store. Like Google which assured on January 30 that the application had been suspended from Google Play. Decisions welcomed by the National Center against Sexual Exploitation which thanked the two tech giants on X (formerly Twitter) on January 31, 2024.

We are glad to THANK @AppStore and @GooglePlay for booting the Wizz app from their app stores after our outreach to them – this app connected children with strangers, leading to grooming and abuse. This step of social responsibility is vital for online safety!

— National Center on Sexual Exploitation (@NCOSE) January 31, 2024

Wizz also responded by saying working "closely with the teams to clarify our platform's extensive protection measures for users. We hope to resolve this issue quickly". She did not specify whether the application would be reinstated on the Apple and Google stores.

Since its creation in 2019, the app has been downloaded more than 14 million times worldwide, reports NBC News.&nbsp ;