In the modern digitalized world, communication is immediate and there is an unending emergence of new chat platforms. Although most of these platforms may offer a fast and free way of interacting with strangers located anywhere in the world, not every one of them is designed in the most secure way, which is safe enough even to children. Anonymous chat services like Chatiw are one of such sites and they connect users without requiring any registration.
As innocent as it might sound, Chatiw contains several grave threats, especially to minors. This blog will discuss why children are not supposed to use Chatiw, the harm that it causes and what parents can do to ensure their children are safe on the Internet.
What is Chatiw?
Chatiw is a free online chatroom service that allows users to enter into conversation with strangers immediately. It does not need any registration or identity confirmation; one can just write the name, the age, the gender and their location to start chatting. Although this might be convenient, there is no authentication or moderation of the information and anyone can post fake information, so the site is highly unsafe for the youth.
- No Age Checking or User Authentication.
The first red flag is the most obvious, as Chatiw lacks a robust system to verify the age of its users. The fake age can be easily set to an age that children desire to be and adults can be set to an age that they want to be. This poses a dangerous situation where the predators can pose as peers to win the trust of children.
Age verification is important in platforms where the chat participants are random and anonymous. Regrettably, Chatiw does not have this necessary safety measure and exposes children to severe danger of falling prey to stalkers with bad intentions.
- Young people are exposed to inappropriate content.
The chats in Chatiw are not moderated, and thus, there is no reason to prevent users from sending sexually explicit messages or talking about adult topics. As a matter of fact, a lot of people enter sites such as this with the sole intention of engaging in explicit communication.
This provides an unhealthy atmosphere to children who are likely to be exposed to:
- Swearing and obscenities.
- Sexual messages and allusions.
- Harassment and abuse
- Demands for irrelevant photos or videos.
Even a short exposure to this type of content will have long-term psychological consequences on a child.
- There is a high risk of Internet predators.
The availability of online predators is one of the most threatening threats on online chatting platforms such as Chatiw. These are the people who fake other teenagers or children so as to win the confidence of young users.
After gaining trust, predators can seek to:
- Require personal data (address, school, phone number)
- Suggest or distribute explicit materials.
- Promote covert conduct.
- Arrange in-person meetings
This type of grooming activity is not easily detected, particularly when the child is already using Chatiw without their parents knowing about it.
- None of the Parental Controls or Safety Features.
Chatiw does not have any parental control, unlike child-safe platforms, e.g., Messenger Kids or YouTube Kids. It has no content filtering, no chat surveillance and no reporting system that parents could use to guard their children.
In this case, since no safety tools are built into the site, parents can hardly do anything to intervene and control what their children are doing on the site. This renders their safety in using the platform impossible.
- Anonymity Promotes Unhealthy Competition.
The anonymity of the internet may be a two-edged sword. Although it ensures privacy, it also makes it possible to cyberbully, troll, and exploit. Chatiw users do not have to make accounts, and thus they can repeatedly join the site with various identities in case they are banned or reported, which is hardly the case because the site is poorly moderated.
Since children are inherently impressionable and curious, they will be more easily manipulated or emotionally hurt in such toxic and anonymous conditions.
- Lack of Accountability
Since Chatiw does not have user profiles and does not need one to log in, there is no form of responsibility to those users who misbehave. Contrary to social media, which suspends/bans accounts whenever their rules are violated, Chatiw allows the user to join again immediately with a new identity.
This implies that when a child blocks or reports a person, they can still be back in a few minutes under a different name and be left to perpetrate their evil actions.
- Unsafe Data Practices
Although Chatiw does not need registration, its user IP addresses and geographical location information are also obtained, which makes the issue of data privacy a concern. During the conversation, children can also disclose personal information unknowingly, which could be used to know their location or any other sensitive information.
In the absence of explicit child-centered privacy policies, Chatiw cannot secure the data of young users as well as comply with the online child protection legislation, including COPPA (Children Online Privacy Protection Act).
- Adverse Mental Health Effect.
Continuous exposure to dangerous material, online bullying, or predatory actions on sites such as Chatiw can lead to mental health problems in kids, such as:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Low self-esteem
- Internet phobia or an online relationship phobia.
Since children are still growing emotionally and cognitively, they cannot process these situations and react in any way, and the earlier they are exposed, the worse it is.
What Can Parents Do?
As a parent, a guardian, or a teacher, worrying about the safety of a child online, you can do the following to be proactive:
- Have Open Conversations
Sensitise your children to online threats. Define grooming, catfishing and explicit material – in an age-appropriate way.
- Monitor Device Usage
Install parental control programs to be aware of the websites and applications used by your children. Filter browsing so that browsers exclude such sites as Chatiw.
- Promote Safe Platforms
And promote kids using this app with age-related applications that have safety settings and parental restrictions. Educate them on the need to have digital boundaries.
- Educate on Digital Literacy
Instruct children on how to recognize warning signs, including being asked to send personal photos, being offered a gift, or being pressured to keep it confidential.
- Lead by Example
Be a role model of healthy internet use and establish restrictions on screen time, use of applications and communication with strangers online.
Substitutes for Unsafe Chat Platforms
Provided that your child wants to communicate with friends online, there are much safer options than Chatiw. Apps like:
- Messenger Kids
- Google Family Link
- Caribu
- Kinzoo
Parental control, content regulation, and suitably age-related interactions are much more suitable in these platforms, and thus make them a significantly better option with young users.
Final Thoughts
Inasmuch as the internet presents endless possibilities in terms of connectedness, it is also a practical threat, particularly to children. This is not a site that kids should be on, like Chatiw, where there are no safety functions, no moderation, and no accountability.
The anonymity and the unedited nature of such sites introduce predators, explicit content, and harmful behavior, all of which may lead to permanent damage. Children need to be able to go safely through the internet, and the first step to do it correctly is to use reliable sites where their well-being is considered.
We think that at Radarro, we can make the digital world a safer place to be. It implies creating awareness of such risky apps as Chatiw and providing safe and confirmed alternatives. Internet safety is not a luxury, but a necessity, as far as your child is concerned.
