“PopJam”: a buzz about a social app for children! TV advert banned in England because it is “harmful to mental health and self-confidence”

The social media app “PopJam” is enraging parents, youth advocates and authorities in Great Britain. The program, which is aimed at seven to twelve year olds, has been promoted for some time with a TV commercial that calls on them to accumulate likes and followers in order to be more successful and popular. After complaints from concerned parents, the clip has now been banned and deemed “harmful to the mental health and self-confidence” of adolescents.

Matthias Jax, project manager at Saferinternet: “Fundamentally critical”

“Such apps should generally be viewed critically. Even programs that have been specifically developed for children and young people must at some point be economically viable for the provider,” said Matthias Jax, project manager at Saferinternet , in an interview with pressetext. And this almost always works through the data collected by such services. “There are certainly cases where you act with a good basic intention, for example to better protect younger users. “But that doesn’t change the fact that this data is stored and processed somewhere,” emphasizes the expert.

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In addition to the fact that special social media offers for children also collect highly sensitive data, you also have to be aware that basically the same mechanics are used here as with all other online networks, Jax further points out. This particularly includes trying to motivate users to interact more actively using certain key figures regarding friends, followers and likes. “That’s why it’s extremely important that all contacts – parents, teachers and other important contacts – show a certain awareness of the problem and, for example, always ask children why they really want to use such a network,” says Jax.

Checked and banned

“We have received many complaints because parents are concerned that encouraging people to get more likes and followers could have a damaging impact on under-18s,” says the Advertising Standards Authority ruling. The regulatory authority's experts then examined the case and decided that the commercial in question was "irresponsible" and could no longer be broadcast in its current form.

The manufacturer of PopJam, the start-up SuperAwesome Trading, cannot understand the excitement. “PopJam is a safe garden designed specifically for children to ensure their privacy, safety and well-being. In contrast to other social media portals, where likes and followers are seen as an indication of social status, for us these numbers are about reaching a certain level in the app,” the company justifies itself.

In line with this topic:

Child protection: Dating apps are flying out of stores

Sources:
pte
BBC
The Telegraph


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