By Ben Goggin and Lora Kolodny —
NBC News
Wizz, a social media app increasingly popular among U.S. teens, was removed from Apple's App Store and Google Play this week.
Apple was the first company to adopt this measure after the National Center on Sexual Exploitation reached out with concerns about the alleged use of Wizz in
sextortion
(sexual extortion) scams, according to a series of emails reviewed by NBC News.
In an email, an Apple representative responded to the center: “We take App Store violations seriously and appreciate your help.
The app has been removed from the Store and we are in contact with the developer.”
In a post Wednesday on X, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation thanked the stores for removing Wizz.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Wizz app has been used by people to find and connect with young users in “financial sextortion” scams, according to a study. Owen Berg/NBC News
A Google spokesperson said the Wizz app was suspended from Google Play, the online Android app store, on Tuesday.
The spokesperson cited the company's policy on child protection that requires apps to "prohibit users from creating, uploading or distributing content that facilitates the exploitation or abuse of children."
A Wizz spokesperson said in an emailed statement that “Apple and Google are seeking more information about our app and we are working closely with their teams to clarify our platform's extensive guarantees for users.
We hope to resolve this matter soon.”
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The Tinder-like Wizz app is owned by French parent company and mobile publisher Voodoo, which was funded by Goldman Sachs, Tencent and GBL, among others.
It allows users to set up and scroll through profiles that display a person's photo, name, age, status, and zodiac sign.
Wizz has marketed its platform as a “safe space” to make new friends and has allowed
users as young as 13
to set up accounts and start connecting with other users in the same “age-limited” group.
Concerns around Wizz have grown in recent months as child safety and technology research groups have gathered more information about the increasingly popular app.
At least two content creators walked out this month from a Wizz-sponsored content creation house, where influencers gathered to make TikTok videos to promote the app.
They cited concerns raised by child safety advocates about Wizz and
sextortion
, according to the creators directly involved in the project, who requested anonymity because they signed agreements preventing them from speaking out against the company.
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A Wizz spokesperson said the recent event in Miami was “a success” and showed “how our app helps create meaningful relationships between young people.”
“All of the influencers who spent the week with us say they are excited to participate in Wizz House 2, and others have reached out to say they want to join,” the spokesperson added.
The Wizz app has been used by people to find and connect with young users in “ financial
sextortion
” scams, according to a recent study by the Network Contagion Research Institute, a nonprofit that studies the spread of extremism, hate and online crime to help.
fight it and prevent it.
The Impact of Sextortion
The FBI defines
sextortion
as “a crime in which adults coerce children and teens into sending explicit images online.”
After sending the images, the criminals threaten to post or send the explicit photos or videos to the victims' friends and family unless they repeatedly pay through a variety of peer-to-peer payment apps, gift cards, and transfers. of cryptocurrencies.
Sextortion
can be so devastating that
victims committed suicide in at least 20 known cases in the United States
,
according to the FBI.
In its most recent study into rising levels of
sextortion
in North America and Australia, the institute slammed Wizz, along with Meta-owned Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok, for what it called an inadequate effort to protect minors. and young adults online.
Wizz informs its users that use will be suspended.Wizz
“Some victims report being subjected to
sextortion
within minutes of joining the app, suggesting that criminals have saturated Wizz,” the study says, adding that researchers found frequent complaints on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. about Wizz, with users claiming that the app was “publishing pornographic ads to minors.”
Adam Sohn, executive director of the Network Contagion Research Institute, said in an email that, in general, “social media platforms struggle to adequately address” risks to underage users and “are sometimes financially incentivized to pass them by.” high".
The research institute's chief intelligence officer, Alex Goldenberg, said app stores can significantly affect the reach of social media platforms.
“Wizz has something like 20 million active users,” he said.
“But if the app store doesn't continue to offer them, they won't be able to sustain, much less grow, their user base.”
Goldenberg added that he believes Wizz's age verification system is not robust enough.
“We have seen threat perpetrators who can bypass age verification facial recognition by having their cousin or brother take a selfie, and then they are ready to use the platform,” he added.
“And it's not just threatening actors: if you're under 13, it's very easy for an older sibling to have their photo taken, too.”
Wizz declined to say what steps it would take to try to get reinstated on the Apple App Store or Google Play.
But he posted a “story” on Instagram with an emoji-laden message on a tinted background that told users:
"Hello.
Just wanted to stop by to quickly let you know that Wizz is currently taking a break from the app stores due to a technical issue.
“We are working very hard to fix everything and get back to normal as soon as possible.”