Wizz app, popular with teens, is removed from the App Store and Play Store

Apple and Google both removed the Wizz app from their respective app storefronts this week. Wizz is a social media app popular among U.S. teens. According to NBC News, the alleged use of the app in sextortion scams led the National Center on Sexual Exploitation to send an email to Apple and the latter removed the app from the App Store. 

NBC News was able to review some emails and reported that one from an Apple representative to the center said, "We take App Store violations seriously and appreciate your outreach. The app has been removed from the Store and we are in touch with the developer." Google suspended the app from the Play Store on Tuesday citing its child endangerment policy which demands that apps "prohibit users from creating, uploading or distributing content that facilitates the exploitation or abuse of children."

In a tweet posted yesterday, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation thanked both Apple and Google for removing Wizz. "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!"

Wizz is hoping to return to both the App Store and the Play Store. An e-mailed statement from a Wizz spokesperson says, "Apple and Google are seeking more information on our app, and we are working closely with their teams to clarify our platform's extensive safeguards for users. We hope to resolve this matter soon." Despite being hopeful about a return to the App Store and the Play Store, Wizz did not say what it intends to do in order to have Apple and Google reinstate the app.

Wizz, which has been compared to Tinder, says on its website, "Welcome to Wizz, where the fun comes from the unexpected. Wizz is the ultimate online platform for random chats with people from all over the world." The app allows users to scroll through profiles that show a person's photo, his/her first name, age, state, and zodiac sign. The app has marketed itself as a "safe space" where users as young as 13 can make age-appropriate friends.

However, a study by the non-profit organization Network Contagion Research Institute, which studies hatred and crime online, says that the Wizz app has been used in financial sextortion scams. With such scams, adult criminals get kids and teens to send them explicit photos online. The criminals then threaten to publicly post the explicit photos or share them with parents, other relatives, and friends unless they make online payments to the criminals. These payments can include cash, gift cards, or cryptocurrency. Some victims have felt so much shame that they have committed suicide.

The study noted that "Some victims report being targeted by sextortion within minutes of joining the app, suggesting that criminals have saturated Wizz." Subscribers claimed that the app was "serving pornographic ads to minors."

Alex Goldenberg, the Network Contagion Research Institute's director of intelligence said, "Wizz has something in the ballpark of 20 million active users. But if the app store doesn’t continue to carry it, they cannot sustain, let alone grow, their user base."

Goldenberg also said that the app's age verification system is not strong enough. "We’ve seen threat actors who can bypass age verification facial recognition by having their cousin or brother take a selfie, and then they will be off and running on the platform," he said. "And it’s not just threat actors — if you’re under the age of 13, it’s very easy to have an older sibling have a photo taken, as well."