A user can ‘Meet New People’ to chat with strangers or they can search for public groups on different topics such as gaming, art or food. However, the search results include groups, which use very explicit imagery as their profile picture and share pornographic content. Similarly, the live stream ‘For you’ page suggests pornographic streams. Users prominently display their other social media links (e.g. Telegram) to encourage connection on other platforms. The ‘Safe Search’ setting can be used to blur this imagery but the user is still able to join the group or livestream. Users can also be invited to a Private Group, where they can chat with 99 other people.
Kik has no parental controls but its safety settings include the ability for a user to decide who can send them chat requests. They can prevent other members in a group from sending them direct messages and from using their phone or email address to find them. They can block other users and refuse consent for their data to be used for personalised advertising.
*The Terms of Service suggest the minimum age is 13 if a child is being supervised by a parent or legal guardian. However, the Terms of Service for Live (to livestream) say a user must be 18. To create an account, a user needs to give an 18+ date of birth*.
