While social trends change, the TikTok short video format is here to stay. This new way to share video content has revolutionized social media. Social giants Instagram are rushing to copy it with “reels”, with copycats popping up all around. Likee is one such app, which is a new face in social media and looking to get in the Hall of Fame. Is the Likee app safe for kids?
What’s the Likee app?
Likee is a short-video sharing app that allows users to:
- Use stickers, filters, and other effects to create your own videos.
- Followers
- Broadcast your own stream or view others live
- Use hashtags to search for content from all over the globe
- Comment on videos of other users
- Send virtual gifts to other users by purchasing virtual gifts
For what purpose is Likee?
Likee allows you to engage with short-form video clips and share your interests. To let the app know your interests, you can enter “favours” when signing up. This allows you to have a more customized feed. These interests include common hobbies like travel, makeup, and basketball. However, they also provide options that are more suitable for younger tastes such as Roblox or Pokemon Go.
Like other social video platforms like Facebook, Likee also offers many stickers and effects that encourage creativity. Likee offers in-app purchase that allows you to gift other users gifts as a reward for uploading content. These gifts can be exchanged to real-life currency.
What age do you need to be to use Likee
Likee is rated Teen on the Play Store. This means that it’s suitable for children aged 13 and above. It is rated 12+ by the App Store, and Likee’s Terms of Use separate “age gates” based on where you live.
| Country | |
| USA, UK, Canada, Brazil, Russia, Ukraine | 13+ |
| Spain, Italy | 14+ |
| Australia, France and New Zealand | 15+ |
| Germany, Iran, and Other European Countries | 16+ |
Is Likee Safe?
Although there are age restrictions, doesn’t require you to create a profile or enter a date of birth in order to browse on Likee. The homepage displays the most recent videos in your area. On the desktop, you can browse popular videos and swipe to them without having to create a profile.
Consider app safety when considering your security. Likee is just like any other social networking site.
- Collects your data
- This allows you to make connections with strangers
- Displays your content and image in public places where everyone can see it
In India Likee was removed from all app stores and banned in July 2020 due to security and privacy concerns.
Why is the Likee app dangerous for children
Likee can be dangerous for children. This is true even if they are just browsing the site, but more so if they upload their own content. You cannot make your Likee account public, unlike other social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok. Young children can create accounts and interact with strangers within seconds by posting videos or commenting on others’ posts.
This is not all.
You’ll be able to browse and see a lot of inappropriate material uploaded to the Likee feed. Qustodio testing revealed that Likee was not only easy to use but also very user-friendly.
- Contains explicit sexual imagery or suggestive language
- Videos showing minors engaging in suggestive acts
- Violence
- Inappropriate language
- Derogatory and insulting comments for videos of minors
- Videos of minors: Suggestions for comments
You can’t tell who is behind the profile by interacting with Likee users. The gifting system also means that younger users can be coerced, bribed or manipulated easily.
We recommend that you cut the Likee app at its source and block it completely from your child’s or teenager’s smartphone.
How do you block Likee app
Qustodio allows you to receive alerts when your child downloads an app. You can also block apps that are not your preference . To help prevent your child from using an app, limit their time on it. Qustodio allows you to block URLs so your child can’t access Likee from any device.
You can block the Likee app. It is important to have regular discussions with your child about their online habits and what interests them. You’ll be able to build healthy social media habits by having an open and honest conversation with your children and helping them to understand the positive and negative sides of the internet.
Who uses Likee?
According to App Annie, Likee was the 6th most popular app in the world during the first quarter 2020. Comparatively to 2019, Likee saw a 208.3% rise in downloads.
Mobile Likee apps for Android and iOS are free to download. Although Likee is no longer popular, it still has more than 500,000,000 downloads on the Google Play Store.
The app has over 150 million users worldwide, making it extremely popular among youth in Southeast Asia, Russia and India. However, there are some issues.
Controversy: Why was Likee banned in India
In 2019, half the 330 million Likee downloads came from India. This makes Likee one of the most popular apps in India. The app was also available in 15 Indian languages. This is one of the reasons it was so popular in India.
The Indian government banned Likee in June 2020. India has not been a new development. The Likee app was also banned for vague reasons related to national security.
We are generally skeptical about these oppressive censorship tactics. We have come to shocking conclusions after conducting our own research on Likee. The app is worse than we could ever imagine.
We won’t mince words: Likee, a TikTok Clone that makes TikTok seem downright wholesome is what we are going to say. It has incredibly suggestive videos, which are low-rent and sketchy. The app itself is filled with bots which presents scamming and predation dangers. The terms of service require that users be at least 16 years old. Likee only markets to users aged 12+ as per its app store listing. This app is off. There are many things you should know about it. Below, we’ll discuss the dangers.
Harmful Content
Likee has a lot of sexually explicit content. Each video, even the first one, features close-ups of young women doing provocative, close up yoga poses and undressing. Although it isn’t explicit, it is very suggestive for children who use video apps like this to learn how to lip-sync, do trendy dance moves, and make funny videos.
Predation
Likee doesn’t seem to be real. That’s a big red flag. This makes it possible for predators to impersonate children and target young people via the app. It is possible to communicate via direct messages and video comments, which increases the chance that children could be groomed. There are also financial scams that can be perpetrated by the large number of bots in the app..
Positive Value
Likee is not a good source of information, but it does contain a lot of inappropriate content and the potential for predation.
Privacy
Likee does not allow users to create private profiles. Anyone can view and share a video that is uploaded by a child.
Parental Controls
Likee has parental controls that can either be turned on or disabled by a passcode. These controls block private messaging, commenting and live broadcasts. These controls are also supposed to filter out objectionable content. After creating an account for our kid, we didn’t notice any difference in the content that was being served up to us.
Bark offers support for Likee. Bark can help you keep your child safe by allowing:
- If necessary, you can block likee completely
- You can control when your child is able to use Likee throughout the day.
Should my child download it
No. There is a lot of inappropriate and suggestive content in the Likee app, so there is a high potential for predation.
