At Yubo, we believe that engagement and safety go hand in hand online. As part of our ongoing commitment to empowering Gen Z to express themselves and build meaningful connections, we're proud to reaffirm our ongoing support of Safer Internet Day as a partner organization and donor to the annual initiative.  

Safer Internet Day, taking place this year on Tuesday, February 11, is a global initiative that calls for action in making the digital world safer for everyone, especially children and young people. This year’s theme, "Together for a Better Internet," highlights the shared responsibility we all have in creating a safer, more inclusive online environment.

With over 80 million users in more than 140 countries, shaping a future where young adults can connect online securely and confidently by setting new standards for industry is Yubo’s top priority. 

Yubo maintains one of the most robust systems for user trust and safety, combining cutting-edge technical tools and trained human content moderators to establish a strong foundation for online safety technology and policy leadership. Our ongoing support of Safer Internet Day, and other online safety initiatives and groups around the globe, is a critical component of Yubo’s trust and safety DNA.

To ensure that our platform is a space where young adults can interact safely among peers, we’ve proactively implemented an array of safety measures. Yubo’s layered safety infrastructure includes age verification requirements for 100% of new and returning users that leverages both iBeta-certified facial age estimation AI technology provided by Yoti since 2022, as well as manual checks by our team of Safety Specialists – making Yubo the only social app in the world to enforce age-assurance protocols platformwide. 

In 2024, we continued to enhance user safety on Yubo with innovative tools designed to address emerging risks and provide greater control over personal experiences. One major update was SafeBlur, an AI-driven content moderation feature that automatically blurs offensive words in direct messages while allowing users to decide their own level of safety. By enabling customized filters, SafeBlur empowers users to align their experience with their personal comfort levels, complementing broader platform policies. 

Additionally, we introduced a new pop-up message that warns users about potential risks, such as sextortion and online exploitation. These updates reinforce Yubo’s commitment to staying ahead of industry challenges, ensuring a safer and more informed community.

Yet our commitment goes far beyond developing and rolling out in-app safety tools. Yubo works consistently with public and private sector stakeholders, like Childnet, which spearheads Safer Internet Day, to develop and align best practices for online safety policy and innovation. Our track record of proactively rolling out safety tools and policy is made possible largely due to the expertise and support of these partnerships and collaborative efforts.

We encourage everyone to learn more about the values and achievements of Safer Internet Day and recognize the responsibility all of us – industry, users, policy makers, nonprofits – share in creating safer online spaces. No one group can achieve great feats alone.

This year, please take a moment to discuss your experiences and perspectives with peers and engage in meaningful conversations about what role you play in the vast online ecosystem we all share, and how you can support our mission of enhancing integrity and safety online.

Join us in creating a better, safer internet for all. Together, we can make a meaningful impact.

Safer Internet Day 2025: Yubo’s Commitment to Safe Online Spaces

At Yubo, we believe safety and trust are the foundation of meaningful online connections. That’s why, long before lawmakers and government regulators around the world began to discuss requirements for age assurance on social platforms, Yubo became the first major social platform in the world to implement platformwide age verification. This proactive step reflects our safety-by-design philosophy and our commitment to creating a space where people can interact with one another safely. 

This week, we are commemorating the two-year anniversary of our September 2022 milestones of age-verifying for 100% of Yubo users in partnership with Yoti, the leading digital identity solutions provider. 

Here’s how our pioneering efforts are setting a new standard for online safety. 

Revolutionizing Safety with 100% Age Verification

In 2022, Yubo partnered with Yoti, a leader in facial age estimation technology, to take age gating – a feature that separates users into communities based on their age – to the next level. By the end of the year, Yubo required 100% of its users to verify their age. This made Yubo the first app globally to achieve this milestone.

Using Yoti’s privacy-preserving technology, age verification on Yubo works in seconds:

Users provide their birthdate upon sign-up or at their next login.

A live image is captured in-app and analyzed by Yoti.

The system verifies if the image matches the birthdate provided.

If the results are inconclusive, users can adjust their date of birth or submit an ID and another live image for manual review by Yubo’s Safety Specialists. Roughly 87% of users are able to successfully verify their age on Yubo at first attempt.

Yubo implemented platformwide age verification years ahead of key regulations in its major markets, including:

Recent age assurance bills in U.S. states like California, Utah, and Texas

Australia’s 2024 legislation requiring social media users to be 16 or older

This proactive approach showcases Yubo’s dedication to leadership in safety, not just compliance.

Survey Insights: How Users Feel Safer on Yubo

In October 2024, we asked over 10,000 users about their experiences with age verification:

79% said they feel safer on Yubo compared to other platforms because of age verification.

60% reported a positive impact on their overall app experience.

53% said it increased trust in the authenticity of their interactions.

By verifying user ages, we not only protect minors from inappropriate content and interactions but also enhance the experience for adults, who can confidently connect with peers without fear of misrepresentation.

Age verification doesn’t just safeguard users – it also reduces the prevalence of bots. By requiring live images, we’ve made it nearly impossible for automated accounts to gain access. In a survey of over 1,000 long-term users, 50% reported noticing fewer bot accounts since the rollout of age verification.

Bots are notorious for spreading misinformation, facilitating scams, and manipulating public opinion. By tackling this issue head-on, Yubo strengthens its position as a trusted platform for real connections.

Boosting Engagement and Community Quality

Age verification has also enhanced engagement and retention by ensuring users are grouped with peers in livestreams and profile swipes. Today, 70% of Yubo’s users are over 18, and they benefit from an environment tailored to their interests and preferences.

Among pre-2022 users, nearly one-third reported improved interaction quality thanks to age verification. These results highlight how trust and safety can drive user satisfaction.

Leading the Industry with Safety and Growth

Yubo’s proactive investment in age verification demonstrates that user safety and business success go hand in hand. By addressing the challenges of online safety before they became regulatory mandates, we’ve shown the power of innovation in building trust.

As Yubo co-founder and CEO Sacha Lazimi puts it:

“Our team is grateful for the opportunity to work with partners like Yoti to continually break ground in online safety innovation and provide young people with the level of safety they are entitled to online.”

At Yubo, we’re proud to be a global leader in online safety. By pioneering age verification, we’ve created a platform where users can feel secure, connected, and valued—today and for years to come.

You can access our case study with Yoti about facial age estimation on Yubo on Yoti’s website. 

How Yubo Pioneered 100% Age Verification to Set a New Standard for Trust & Safety on Social Media

Introducing SafeBlur: A Safety Tool That Lets You Do You!

Safety? Check! Empowering users? Check! SafeBlur is about both Internet safety and user choice, and those values are at the forefront of our work here at Yubo. We’ve all heard of the importance of online safety, but the concept of user agency is gaining more and more traction today. Allowing freedom without encouraging misuse helps users to feel in control of their online environment, so this should not be overlooked when creating safety tools. Navigating the balance between user safety and user choice can sometimes be complex, but here at Yubo we’re dedicated to innovation that does just that. This is why we have been working on a new safety feature called SafeBlur. The goal of this feature is to mitigate potential triggers and discomfort you could encounter when chatting, while giving you an option to see as much — or as little — as you'd like. It is also designed to prevent instances of sexual harassment – an issue Yubo takes very seriously.

Of course, blocking and muting have long been staple safety measures across the social media world, but we felt that a new approach was necessary to proactively prevent our users from seeing inappropriate content. We developed SafeBlur in 2024 in response to in-depth polling conducted on Yubo that highlighted the need for a direct message (DM) content moderation tool. This request was common across different age and gender user groups, and articulated an opportunity to make one-on-one conversations safer.

Sacha Lazimi, Yubo co-founder and CEO commented on the project: “SafeBlur was created in response to insights we gathered through rigorous data analysis and user feedback, reflecting our proactive approach to solving key challenges in trust and safety for social platforms. We’re proud to offer a solution that protects users and maintains the privacy they expect.”

This feature is our latest contribution to a better, safer Internet. Previously, we gave our users the option to exclude specific words through our Muted Words feature. SafeBlur builds on this, making avoiding toxicity online even easier. You don’t have to spend your time choosing words you would like to avoid – SafeBlur does it for you by blurring inappropriate or offensive messages without you having to do any the work.

Yubo Safety - SafeBlur feature

SafeBlur is designed to keep your online interactions safe and upset-free. It scans your direct messages – which are higher-risk content compared to livestreams or live chat – and blurs out any inappropriate or offensive messages. This way you can feel protected when chatting one-on-one, and the private messages you receive are subjected to the same scrutiny as all other kinds of online content. However, to give you a bigger say in the kind of content you see, you will be able to turn the feature off as well as decide to unblur any messages you’re interested in reading even when SafeBlur is on. SafeBlur will also prompt you to report any inappropriate messages, which helps promote safety and accountability.

SafeBlur is an AI-powered tool, allowing us to scan a large volume of text messages daily. The offending content can be escalated to our human moderation team, but the bulk of it will be screened out by AI, making sure you can successfully avoid any inappropriate or toxic messages. SafeBlur works in many languages, helping protect our users in the 140 countries where Yubo is active.

Using SafeBlur is really simple – whenever you receive a questionable direct message for the first time, we will blur it and send you a pop-up alert, asking if you want to keep the feature enabled. If opted out, SafeBlur will be turned off and won’t affect your experience on the app in any way, unless you decide to turn it back on again. With SafeBlur enabled, you will still be able to see the blurred text if you tap on it, and you will also get the chance to report it immediately to our human moderation team if you’d like. What if you decided against enabling SafeBlur, but changed your mind after a while? This can be easily fixed. Simply go to your profile and tap on Settings, then Safety and Privacy, and finally, toggle on SafeBlur. Alternatively, if you have enabled it initially, but want it disabled later, you can always do so by following the same steps.

We’re planning to use the feedback we receive to fine tune SafeBlur to ensure user satisfaction. Dedicated to user safety, Yubo will be taking further steps to remain a vocal innovator in the field of online safety technology.

Lastly, if you were ever harassed online, check this helpful guide on dealing with harassment and bullying. It’s in our power to make the Internet a better place, and here at Yubo, we will continue to advocate for user safety and empowerment through technology.

So whether you choose to protect yourself as much as possible or to keep those convos unfiltered, we’re here to give you the experience you choose! You can check out the SafeBlur feature now by going on Yubo and enabling it in the Settings. Have fun!

Openness, safety and privacy are of incredible importance today when it comes to social discovery apps. These values are the backbone of user trust, something we always strive towards here at Yubo. Our bi-annual Transparency Report is an essential expression of these values that allow us to build new features and additions to the app with user safety in mind. Covering periods from January to June and from July to December, they provide an overview of all the achievements of our safety strategy and the safeguards we employ during respective periods. Our Transparency Report is available on our website to all: our users, journalists and any safety authorities and overseers. Published since 2021, they have been a trusted resource for anyone interested in how Yubo handles the safety of our users.

Our Transparency Report is usually divided into three sections: Behind the scenes, Safety on Yubo and Key Metrics. While the first section is largely introductory, offering some information about the app, our values and covering any new developments, the other two offer more detailed insight into policies and metrics.

This section begins with an outline of the safety strategy we are following. Yubo is a strong advocate of the “Safety by Design” approach: rather than mitigating unwanted behaviours, we aspire to build the app in a way that prevents violations before any harm is caused. As a part of this approach, we rely heavily on innovative content moderation technology and develop algorithms detecting suspicious or inappropriate behaviours. Alongside these measures, we also educate our users through safety alerts and refer them to our Community Guidelines when appropriate.

Outlining the teams responsible for specific safety processes and tools, we move onto Yubo’s safety measures, among which there are detection technologies, human moderation, identity and age assurance, age gates, and more. Having established a lot of partnerships with NGOs, charities and other safety organisations, we always dedicate a page of the report to our Safety Board and our other safety-related partnerships. We also explain our reporting process in detail, outlining how and when we report illegal content to the police or other relevant law enforcement authorities.

Overall, this section is mainly dedicated to all the ways the Yubo team upholds user safety and privacy in a responsible and open manner. If you would like to know more about our safety tools and processes, make sure to read pages 14 to 31 of our latest report.

This section of the report focuses more on numbers than processes. Here we report on how much content was removed from the platform, what kind of reports were made, and how many accounts were suspended and reinstated during the respective period. One significant chapter of this section that was introduced in the first half of 2023 is our report on the measures taken to fight hate, extremism and terrorism on our platform. Furthermore, in the second half of 2023, we have also added a section outlining the processes and metrics associated with ensuring safety of minors on our app. Lastly, a few final pages of the section are dedicated to permanent bans, user appeals and the live moderation technology we use to ensure our users’ safety whilst streaming live.

Our latest published Transparency Report covers the period from January to June 2024. It was published in September 2024 and is available here.

The biggest highlight of this period was tackling the rise of financial sexual extortion, otherwise known as sextortion, online. We worked on enhancing our detection systems to prevent users from sharing sensitive data. We were also sending out security alerts when our users were switching platforms or exchanging socials. Other than preventative measures, we focused on supporting sextortion victims by bettering our reporting systems and advising our users on how to seek assistance on Yubo and elsewhere.

Another goal for this period was to strengthen our “Platform Integrity” policy that is designed to protect our users from malicious online activity such as fraud or other ways of compromising user privacy.

We also revised criteria for substantial threats, making important changes to how we classify cases that involve imminent danger to our users and escalating them more effectively. Lastly, we enhanced the transparency of the reporting process by letting them know if the action was taken following a report they made to us.

Some important changes from our latest Report will be outlined as compared to our 2023’s report below.

As a result of our proactive detection strategy and “Safety by design” approach, our proactive detection reports went up from 85% to 92.5%. We also sent out more alerts compared to the previous six months after we strengthened the way we flag identity misrepresentation.

Over the last six months, we have learnt to better moderate some types of content proactively – for instance, moderated textual content on Yubo went up from 4% to 41.2%, highlighting our increased ability to work with this type of content.

There were no changes to the Child Safety chapter of the Metrics section in this report – Yubo will be reporting the statistics for 2024 in our end of the year report, coming in the beginning of 2025.

Here at Yubo, we take the safety and privacy of our users seriously. We will always uphold the highest standards when it comes to proactively detecting any instances of harm, and we want to thank our users for playing a big role in making the Internet safer through reporting any suspicious activity on the app. Make sure to check out our latest report and stay tuned for the next one. In the meantime, check out this article about staying safe online, and enjoy connecting and forging friendships on Yubo!

Advocating for openness, safety and privacy: Yubo’s Transparency Report

The digital world moves fast. For all of its benefits, there are also risks, so we want to keep you informed about an online safety issue that is on the rise.

Sexual extortion – commonly known as 'sextortion' – is a serious offense, but you can avoid being a target and understand what to do if you encounter it. 

If you can spare a few minutes to read this blog, you’ll know:

If you’re already in a situation you want to get out of, it’s important to stay calm, because it’s not too late – and help is available. 

Please share this blog with your friends and let them know that you’ve got their back if it happens to them.

In this blog, we provide guidance on the following:

What is Yubo doing to help protect young people?

Anyone can become victims of this crime – adults, kids, or teens. Among minors, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) describes it as: “a form of child sexual exploitation where children are threatened or blackmailed, most often with the possibility of sharing with the public nude or sexual images of them, by a person who demands additional sexual content, sexual activity or money.”


Oftentimes, this crime plays out with perpetrators working to persuade someone, including young people, to send them sexually suggestive or explicit photos. Upon receipt, perpetrators threaten to publicize the content unless the user sends them money. In some cases, they continue to extort victims for money even once an initial sum has been paid. 

Being scammed and exploited in this way can be really stressful and traumatic. You might feel:

Perpetrators of this kind of offense are often extremely aggressive, so you might be scared about what will happen if you don’t agree to their demands and pay the money they’re asking for. 


You might also worry that you’ll get into trouble if you tell anyone what’s happening. 


Try to remember that this isn’t your fault and that you’re not alone. It’s important to report scenarios you encounter online that make you uncomfortable, especially those involving extortion.

There has been a dramatic increase in reports of sextortion in recent years. 

In 2023, 186,819 reports received by NCMEC’s CyberTipline were about online enticement (the category that includes sextortion), up from 80,524 reports in 2022. 

Recent research has revealed that cybercriminal groups are behind many cases of sextortion. And while criminals target people of any gender or age, teenage boys are increasingly becoming the most commonly targeted victims of financial sextortion. 

In an interview with CBS News, John Shehan, NCMEC Vice President and Yubo Safety Advisory Board member, said, “Boys are typically targeted because they are more willing to engage in riskier behavior. … They are enticed very quickly [as] they believe they are talking to an attractive female online.” 

John encourages victims to speak up and ask for help – for example, by reporting incidents to the social media provider or through NCMEC’s CyberTipline at https://report.cybertip.org/reporting.

It's Called Sextortion

A stranger (often pretending to be a teenager) or someone you know contacts you on social media, a gaming platform, or a dating app and asks you to share an intimate photo or video, send a sexual message, or do something sexual in a live chat. 


Once you have shared this with them, they might threaten to hurt you, pass it on to your family, friends, and followers, or make it go viral unless you do something for them, such as send money, cryptocurrency, or gift cards, or share more images.

It’s important to understand that sextortion can begin in many different ways, including:

Catfishing/Scamming: Someone sends you a message from a fake social media account. They share an intimate image of themselves (that might be stolen from someone else or created using AI) and ask you to share one back

Grooming: Someone spends time building a friendship or relationship with you online so that you start to trust them and feel OK about sharing intimate messages and images

Hacking: Someone claims to have hacked your device or account and found intimate images of you (they might have hacked it or they might just be saying they have hacked it)

Revenge: A former partner who wants to reconcile or humiliate you gets in touch to say they are going to publish intimate images that you had previously sent to them or allowed them to take.

Editing: Someone contacts you and threatens to create inappropriate images of you using digital editing tools or AI

To make the Yubo community as safe and respectful as possible, everyone has to agree to our Community Guidelines when signing up. We do not allow sexual content or sexually explicit comments and discussions in Lives, and we do not tolerate sexual harassment and unwanted sexual advances towards other Yubo users. (You can find out more about what we’re doing to help protect young people in point #6 below).

The LSE’s ySKILLS project has found that young people feel proud of what they can cope with online but may also feel alone when dealing with difficult situations, especially if they are the target of attention aimed at harming them. 

Child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr. Richard Graham, a member of the Yubo Safety Advisory Board, notes that, “There are many positives to being free to navigate the digital world on your own but what young people also seem to want is that one person – perhaps a parent or teacher – who can help them make sense of what’s going on.” 

To help protect yourself from sextortion, we recommend that you look out for the following red flags:

Follows, friend requests, and messages from people you don’t really know (even if they seem to know people in your friends’ social networks)

A new online contact becoming overly friendly and quickly pressuring you for personal information or images

Someone contacting you on one platform and asking you to move to a private video chat or a messaging app

Things that don’t add up (e.g. their online profile doesn’t match them or they’re friendly one minute and making you feel bad the next)

Claims that seem too good to be true (e.g. when someone says they work for a modeling agency)

Promises of reciprocation (e.g. “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours”)

Read the online safety advice on your social media provider’s website (you can find lots of advice about Yubo in our Safety Hub)

Trust your instincts – if something feels weird or wrong, it probably is

Use reverse image search to check if someone online is who they say they are (you can find instructions on how to do a reverse image search here)

Say ‘no’ if you ever feel uncomfortable sharing a photo or video with someone

Talk to a friend or an adult you trust if you’re worried about anything that’s going on online

Block anyone who makes you feel uncomfortable online 

Stop Sextortion | Thorn

5. What should I do if this happens to me?

Even if you made a choice that you now regret, remember that it’s the person extorting you who is committing the crime – you’ve done nothing wrong. The good news is that, if you don’t pay up, the perpetrator is likely to lose interest and stop contacting you.

Here are some practical steps you can take:

Stop all contact with the person who is threatening you

Don’t share any more images with them or give them any more money 

If you’ve already sent money to them, try to cancel the payment transfer

If you can, gather evidence of your interactions with the person (take screenshots, for example) – don’t block them until you have this evidence as they might delete their profile or messages

Sextortion - 7 things you should know

 Stay Fresh and Safe: Gen Z Tips for Navigating the Social Media Jungle! 

Hello Yubo Fam! Welcome aboard the Yubo adventure, where safety, diversity, and fun come together to create an incredible online experience. With over 80 million users worldwide, Yubo is not just an app; it's where the fun comes to life! Ready to slay the social media game while keeping it 100% secure? 

Two Paths to Friendship: Swipe and Livestream

At Yubo, making new friends is as easy as swiping right! Add tags, emojis, and media to your profile to showcase who you truly are. Swipe right on those you want to chat with, and if the feeling is mutual, the conversation begins!

And of course, there are livestreams! Explore live streams based on your interests, language, or title. You can be a viewer or even become a streamer with your own virtual circle of friends.

At Yubo, your privacy is paramount. Remember to never share personal details like phone numbers or addresses. Check out our detailed guide below. Concerning location, we respect your choice. When you download the app, decide if you want to share your location or not. Users can opt for sharing only their country or city, making connections with friends. Your safety is our priority at Yubo.

Yubo Basics - How to Hide Your City

Yubo places security at the core of its commitment. Our recent collaboration with Yoti has implemented an advanced age verification process, ensuring that 100% of our users are verified. One more step towards protection against fake profiles and harmful behaviors.

The safety of young users is paramount at Yubo. Strict guidelines, a team of 24/7 security specialists, and real-time interventions ensure a safe environment. Our proactive approach also includes an Independent Safety Advisory Board and partnerships with NGOs and digital security authorities.

At Yubo, we believe in inclusion and respect. Our Community Guidelines set the standards for promoting a friendly environment. From age verification to protection against discrimination, our commitment to human rights guides our actions every day.

Violation of our Community Guidelines results in appropriate actions. From warnings to temporary or permanent suspension, we act based on the severity of the violation. Our transparency report provides a detailed insight into the actions taken to enforce these rules.

   - Keep it low-key with the personal info you drop.

   - Set those privacy settings to VIP mode.

   - Only vibe with peeps you actually know.

   - Side-eye profiles with no friends or activity.

   - Flex those brain muscles with strong, unique passwords.

   - Don't be caught slipping with the same password everywhere.

   - Before you spill the tea, think twice.

   - Keep your location on the down-low, no GPS oversharing.

   - Follow those privacy settings like a pro.

   - Adjust as needed to match your vibe.

   - Don't get played—avoid unknown links.

   - Watch out for shady emails or DM phishing schemes.

   - Verify any sketchy messages before taking the bait.

   - Add that extra layer of protection with two-factor authentication.

   - Keep your friend list tight and right.

   - Declutter and block any vibes that feel off.

   - Snitch on strange behavior to the platform.

   - Help keep our online playground safe and sound.

At Yubo, we are committed to creating an online community where fun coexists with safety. Let's protect ourselves, follow the rules, and make Yubo a digital space where everyone can be themselves without compromising safety and privacy.

Ready to create a Yubo experience where safety and inclusion go hand in hand? Join us and let's together contribute to creating a Yubo that's safer and more connected than ever!

Stay Fresh and Safe: Gen Z Tips for Navigating the Social Media Jungle!

#Unboxing Online Safety: Yubo Partners with Internet Matters for a Festive Campaign

This holiday season, Yubo is delighted to announce its partnership with Internet Matters, a London-based nonprofit organization dedicated to providing child internet safety advice to parents, caregivers, and professionals.Yubo is supporting the #Unboxing Online Safety campaign, a special initiative aimed at providing practical advice to foster better online safety habits in kids and teens, as they look forward to receiving and enjoying new devices and gadgets that expand their access to online communities. 

During the holiday season, from 11th December, Internet Matters will present a daily online safety tip for parents through a festive Digital Calendar. Yubo, as Internet Matters partner, contributed expert insights on maintaining open communication and effective supervision of children's device usage.

To add excitement to the campaign, there’s the chance to win a range of great prizes including a brand-new Apple iPad supplied by Yubo. By participating in the campaign, parents not only gain valuable insights into online safety but also stand a chance to unwrap a nice tech gift.

To kick off the #FestiveFortnight, Internet Matters is unboxing the crucial question: 'What makes an online friend?' In a world where children interact with multiple individuals online, it's essential for parents to initiate conversations with their kids about the qualities of a true friend. 

1. Talk with them about what it means to be a friend: Explain that online friendships, just like offline friendships, are respectful and filled with trust and kindness.

2. Explain the difference between an online friend and an offline friend: The information we share with our friends from school will be much different than what we share with friends online. Help them understand what should stay private.

3. Ask them to show you their favourite apps and sites: Explore the communication options and safety features, and what they can do if their online friend isn't treating them in positive ways.

The campaign emphasizes the importance of respect, trust, and kindness in online friendships, mirroring the values of offline connections.

This collaborative effort between Yubo and Internet Matters aims to empower parents with the knowledge and tools to ensure their children's online experiences are secure, enjoyable, and educational. Follow the #Unboxing Online Safety campaign for daily tips and the opportunity to win fantastic prizes. Let's make this holiday season not only festive but also safe and responsible for our young digital explorers.

To learn more about Internet Matters and the campaign, visit the Internet Matters website.

Happy holidays from Yubo and Internet Matters! 

Yubo partners with Internet Matters for a festive #UnboxingOnlineSafety campaign. Daily tips, including insights from Yubo, focus on open communication and supervision for kids with new devices. The Festive Fortnight starts with 'What makes an online friend?' Teach kids about respect, trust, and kindness. Follow #UnboxingOnlineSafety for tips and a chance to win. Happy holidays from Yubo and Internet Matters!

Unwrapping Online Safety: Yubo Partners with Internet Matters for a Festive Campaign

Alex Holmes is Deputy CEO of the Diana Award and a member of the Yubo Safety Board. Having experienced bullying as a child, he founded a peer-to-peer support programme called Anti-Bullying Ambassadors, which has trained more than 50,000 students in over 5,000 schools in the UK and Ireland. Alex sits on the global safety advisory boards of several social media companies and is an advisor to the UK Government.

Bullying and hate speech: Q&A with Alex Holmes

At this time of year, there is a huge global focus on the prevention of bullying. National Bullying Prevention Month took place in the USA in October, UNESCO held its International Day against Violence and Bullying at School Including Cyberbullying on 2 November and the Anti-Bullying Alliance coordinated Anti-Bullying Week in the UK (13-17 November) with the theme of ‘make a noise about bullying’.

Bullying can take place in real life (e.g. at home or at school) and online (e.g. on social media or messaging apps). It can also take different forms, including physical bullying (e.g. shoving or hitting someone), emotional bullying (e.g. spreading lies or excluding someone from a friendship group), verbal bullying (e.g. calling someone nasty names or making threats) and prejudicial bullying (e.g. targeting someone because of their race, religion or sexual orientation).

Yubo works hard to protect its users from online bullying so, to mark Anti-Bullying Week UK (#AntiBullyingWeek), we’re publishing this interview with UK-based anti-bullying expert Alex Holmes who sits on the Yubo Safety Board. This is the second in our series of articles about the current state of online safety (you can read the first article here).

Thanks for your time, Alex, Could you start by telling us a little about the extent of bullying amongst young people – in particular, online bullying?

We know from research by the Oxford Internet Institute (OII) and other organisations that face-to-face bullying is more common than online bullying. 

For example, the latest study by the Anti-Bullying Alliance shows that almost one in four children in the UK (23%) are bullied frequently in person compared to one in 20 children (5%) who are bullied frequently online. According to a survey by the Office for National Statistics (UK), being called names, sworn at or insulted and receiving nasty messages are the most common online bullying behaviours.  

Our own research at the Diana Award last September revealed that 65% of children in the UK were scared of going back to school because they have been bullied. 

These kinds of numbers are alarming so our organisation works with young people, parents and teachers to change the attitudes, behaviour and culture of bullying. Because online bullying often starts with bullying at school (and children spend 11,000 hours of their life in school), we always look at the big picture.

How does the Diana Award help young people to deal with online bullying and hate speech?

Young people might see racist, misogynist or other negative comments on social media and not have the skills to handle the situation or know how to report it. This is a real challenge, especially if the person who made the post has clout within their peer group. And even if a social media provider bans someone for hate speech, the community members may still share their content. 

Our Anti-Bullying Ambassadors programme at the Diana Award helps to tackle bullying behaviour in school and our Respect project helps students to understand what racist and sexual bullying behaviour is and to design in-school campaigns to combat it. 

Do you have any tips for young people who experience negativity, hate or bullying?

Don't join in or add negativity: Don't like, comment or add to the drama. Don't fuel the fire or fan the flames!

Offer your support or a kind word: If you feel OK and brave, challenge the negativity by adding some positive words or calling it out.

Reach out to the person on the receiving end – your support could mean the world to them.

Use the report button: Reporting is supporting! Don't forget to help make the platform a safer and happier place by reporting any harmful behavior.

Take a break: Being online can be tough. Take 10 minutes, go for a walk, speak to a friend or relative about what went down.

For specific tips about dealing with racist bullying, this article I did with the BBC might be helpful, and, if you’re a young person in the UK who needs support, please contact the Diana Award Advice Messenger (text DA to 85258).

What has had the greatest impact on online bullying and hate speech in recent years?

Although the COVID-19 lockdown provided an escape from the playground drama, online bullying still took place. As screen time (for e.g. schoolwork and gaming) and the frequency of online contact (for e.g. messaging and video chats) went up, digital boundaries became blurred and young people took more risks, which resulted in an increase in online messages (some of which were negative) at all times of the day and night. 

As the UK’s Chief Medical Officers say, it’s wise to take a precautionary approach to the amount of time young people spend on their digital devices – they should balance screen use with other (offline) activities.

We’ve also seen online hate increase around large events (e.g. the racist abuse during the Euro 2020 football tournament) and social media influencers playing a larger role, whether it’s encouraging young people to take part in pranks or share controversial views. 

One of the benefits of Yubo is that it’s about finding your tribe (meeting new people and socialising – either one to one or in a group) rather than following influencers or getting likes and shares.  

How can social media providers support their younger users?

It’s important to remember that the positives of technology outweigh the negatives but there are lots of things that social media providers can do to educate and protect young people. These include:

Market trust and safety to your users in the same way you market other product innovations to them (young people want to use safe platforms!).

Get the balance right between protecting your users and making them feel “censored”. I’m a big fan of using the onboarding process to explain the rules and then using frictionless ways to remind users about acceptable behavior (e.g. stating the rules at the beginning of a live stream, which is what Yubo does). 

Understand that young people will make errors of judgment (e.g. posting negative comments based on someone’s appearance) and help them to learn from them. In-app ‘nudges’ like the ones on Yubo remind users to behave more responsibly and also send an important message to the rest of the community.

Consider the language you use (e.g. instead of saying ‘Make a report’, which sounds very formal, you could offer an ‘I don’t like this content’ option and then prompt users to explain why and report it).

Yubo's Take

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