NEW YORK – FEB. 27, 2023 – Yubo, the live social discovery app for Gen Z, has partnered with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) to support the organization in its launch of Take It Down, a free online service to help stop child sexual exploitation and help minors remove their nudes from the internet.

Since 2018, Yubo has worked closely alongside NCMEC, the leading nonprofit dedicated to finding missing children, reducing child sexual exploitation, in an ongoing partnership to eradicate online child exploitation. With the launch of Take It Down, Yubo continues its collaboration with NCMEC to block the non-consensual use of sexually exploitative photos and videos depicting anyone under the age of 18. The service will complement  the wide range of advanced detection tools Yubo already has in place to prevent, remove, and report inappropriate imagery that is shared on the app, and help to further enhance the protection of its users.

NCMEC’s Take It Down service works by assigning a unique hash value to each nude, partially nude, or sexually explicit image or video submitted on the site. A hash value works like a digital fingerprint and allows participating online platforms to identify and block imagery that has the same hash, while maintaining privacy and anonymity. In fact, the entire process of submitting a report on Take It Down happens without the image or video being reported ever leaving the person’s device or anyone else viewing it.  

Through this partnership with NCMEC, Yubo will scan its platform to help remove, and, when necessary, report any images or videos found on Yubo that have been submitted via the service.

To help prevent victimization through the spread or use of explicit content: 

A minor or adult selects a sexually explicit or inappropriate image or video from their device taken before they were 18 that they want hashed and removed, and submits it to NCMEC directly through the Take It Down service.

Each image or video is automatically hashed into a unique digital fingerprint, which can be used to identify exact copies of that image or video. 

Images and videos remain on the minor’s device and are never actually uploaded to or seen by NCMEC or its Take It Down service.

The hash is added to a recently developed hash-sharing list maintained by NCMEC and is shared with participating platforms, such as Yubo, which have executed an agreement to receive these hashes submitted by minors.

Platforms may voluntarily scan their services for the hashes and may remove or report any detected hash matches to reduce the circulation of sexually explicit or exploitative content depicting minors.

“Take It Down provides young people with a meaningful tool to better control how and where their images are used online, and its launch represents a key step in the mission to eradicate CSAM online,” said Yubo co-founder and CEO Sacha Lazimi. “Take It Down serves as an added layer of safety and protection for the teens and young adults socializing on Yubo. We are proud to be a partner to NCMEC in the launch of this service and to support innovation that effectively fights the non-consensual spread of content while preserving our users’ privacy.”

Yubo & NCMEC - a new reporting flow

To further support the rollout of Take It Down, Yubo has added a new option to the app’s reporting flow to allow users to report any content circulating online of them that they deem inappropriate. If users select this option in Yubo’s in-app reporting tool, they will be directed to visit the NCMEC Take It Down site, where they can submit an anonymous report of the content they want removed.

Take It Down is currently available globally in English and Spanish. The service will continue to evolve with new capabilities, such as new languages and hash value matching of live photos or Boomerang videos, which it currently does not cover. 

The service is modeled after the United Kingdom’s StopNCII.org, which helps adults victimized by “revenge porn” and similar acts stop the circulation of sensitive media or content of them online. 

Yubo, the live social discovery app for Gen Z, has partnered with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) to support the organization in its launch of Take It Down, a free online service to help stop child sexual exploitation and help minors remove their nudes from the internet.

Yubo joins forces with NCMEC to combat the spread of sexually inappropriate photos and videos of minors online

Music? TV? Gaming? Yubo, the leading platform for Gen Z to socialise online, has made it even easier for users to connect and make friends based on their interests with its new in-app onboarding interface and updates to its tags feature. 

Now users can add tags to their profiles when they create their account to show their new friends the latest topics that they’re keen to chat about. By including the feature in the account creation flow, it’s now easier for Gen Z to find the right tags to add to their profile showing their love for food, tv, music, gaming and much more. 

It will also be possible to add friends by tags too! If a user comes across a profile with a tag that interests them, they can click on it to find other users who share that interest. Users' top tags will appear directly in their "friends" tab. So everyone can create communities of friends sharing the same interests. 

Over six million Yubo users worldwide are already using the tag feature to make new meaningful connections on the app and, connecting over shared interests with their love of Rick and Morty, Arctic Monkeys and Grand Theft Auto V starting new discussions and budding friendships. 

In addition to the Add by tag feature, the new update includes a change to the live-streaming feature. Yubo redesigned the whole onboarding process and has made it clearer to those on livestream if they are a “watcher” (viewer of a livestream) or a “streamer” (hosting or appearing in the livestream) via a tooltip which will be visible the entire livestream to make users feel more connected and comfortable. 

Sacha Lazimi, Co-founder and CEO of Yubo, said “We want to ensure that our users have the best possible experience on the app, meeting new like-minded people and creating building friendships and connections with others. The launch of the new updates and features has already proven to improve the user experience and remove any barriers that were previously in the way with over six million users now making use of our tag updates and features. We will continue to listen to our community and introduce changes on the app to reflect their needs and their experience.”

Yubo is proud to be leading the way when it comes to creating a personalised user experience and bringing communities together who have similar interests and values.

Music? TV? Gaming? Yubo, the leading platform for Gen Z to socialise online, has made it even easier for users to connect and make friends based on their interests with it’s new in-app onboarding interface and updates to its tags feature. 

Yubo Introduces Features to Unite Gen Z by Interests

Muted Words offers personalised in-app moderation to create a safer space online for each individual

Yubo, the leading platform for young people to socialise online, is taking action against online bullying and harmful content with the introduction of its new ‘Muted Words’ feature, which enables its users to block specific words, emojis or phrases that they find personally triggering from appearing to them on the app.

Cyber-bullying has been on the rise among young people during lockdown with 24% of children estimated to experience some form of cyberbullying. Yubo, which has a Gen Z user base of over 50 million across 40 different countries, is continuing to take steps to ensure that the platform is a safe space for young people to interact with their friends, giving users the control to customise their experience on the platform with this latest feature.

The Muted Words feature allows users to specify any word, abbreviation or emoji that they find offensive, harmful and triggering to them that they no longer wish to see in comments or content on the app. Users will also be able to choose from whom to mute the words - for example, they can block from all users or just those that aren’t on their friends list. Yubo will then automatically hide comments containing these words from the user's view.

This new feature has been developed with the users’ safety and mental health front of mind. Yubo understands that triggering and harmful words are not universal, different words have different effects depending on the individual, who has used this word and the context the word has been used in. Giving individuals control of their experience means that alongside being able to report harmful behaviour, Yubo users can quickly and easily block conversations that they find upsetting.

Margaux Liquard, Lead Safety Manager at Yubo says, “There is nothing more important to us than the safety and wellbeing of our users. The introduction of our Muted Words feature is another step we are taking to ensure that everyone can use the app without fear of judgement or harassment, and empower our community to choose what they want or don’t want to be exposed to. As more and more young people connect online it’s never been more imperative to educate them on online behaviours and the consequences that certain words can have on others.”

Alongside the introduction of Muted Words, Yubo is also helping to combat online bullying through different partnerships and in-app campaigns. To help change behaviour and educate its user base on the impacts of bullying it is working alongside the NCMEC (US), Childnet and The Diana Award (UK), and E-enfance (France).

Yubo fights sexual harassment online with NGOs

Together they aim to make the internet a safe place for young people, and by partnering with these NGOs, Yubo reminds its users that there is no tolerance for inappropriate behaviour and online abuse as well as providing resources for those affected by abuse online. Working with The Diana Award, Yubo will be engaging its community to ask questions and have a constructive discussion through an in-app talk that the Diana Award will be hosting.

Will Gardner, Director at Childnet says, “At Childnet, we have been actively working to tackle online sexual harassment amongst young people, and we are excited to be partnering with Yubo to help reach out to young people directly using their service to give them the information and advice on what to do about online sexual harassment when it happens. Online sexual harassment is a form of sexual violence and can have a real and lasting impact on those that are targeted as well as on those that witness this behaviour. Supporting young people with this issue is vital and this collaboration with Yubo makes this possible.”

Yubo aims to proactively educate its users on how to safely operate online as well as create a secure environment on the app. The launch of Muted Words builds upon Yubo's existing safety features launched earlier this year that prevent the sharing of personal information or inappropriate messages by intervening in real-time. If a user is about to share sensitive information, such as a personal number, address or an inappropriate image they'll receive a pop-up alert from Yubo highlighting the dangers of sharing this information.

Yubo Launches Personalised Moderation Feature

Yubo, the leading platform for young people to socialize online, today announced a variety of new platform updates with Snap Inc. and YouTube to create more personalized and enhanced experiences for its users. Through Snap’s Camera Kit tool, Yubo’s 40M+ users worldwide will now be able to access Snapchat Lenses via Yubo to enhance their livestreams.

Camera Kit invites developers to leverage Snap’s nine-year investment in the Snapchat camera, bringing Snapchat’s AR capabilities and Lens carousel to enrich the experiences on their own apps.

There are currently 30 lenses available through the integration with Yubo that have been quickly adopted by Yubo users. Since the launch of this new feature, 15% of video streamed on Yubo has been with a lens and more than 600,000 lenses are used on a daily basis.

The top 10 lenses being used on Yubo are: Big mouth, Clout Goggles, Black and White, Cute Devil, Light, Bubbles, Hellio Head, Sun Ray 02, Dizzy Bird, and Deal with It.

Within its livestreaming function, Yubo has integrated YouTube, enabling users on the livestream to search for videos and watch them together in real-time. By integrating YouTube, Yubo is mirroring how friends hang out offline and watch videos or TV shows together, sharing the experience with new people.

To support its new tailored approach, Yubo is also launching its recommendation engine 'Mood'. Users will now be able to indicate their interests, what they’d like to do or come across on the app and be recommended for an activity or people looking for the same things. As Yubo continues to grow and reach new audiences, this innovation will allow users to seek out meaningful and customized interactions more easily.

“These new functionalities are super exciting to implement on Yubo. A big part of our latest funding round was to level up our product offerings, which we’re doing today by diversifying the ways in which our users can interact within our livestreams”, explains Jeremie Aouate, CPO at Yubo. “Building a strong UI/UX has always been one of our priorities and teaming up with leaders like Snapchat to add key features to our platform is a very impactful way to do so.”

In November, Yubo announced its $47.5M Series C funding round, bringing its total to $60M in less than a year.

Yubo announced a variety of new platform updates with Snap Inc. and YouTube to create more personalized and curated experiences for its users. Through Snap’s Camera Kit tool, Yubo’s 40M+ users worldwide will now be able to access Snapchat Lenses via Yubo to enhance their livestreams.

Snap Inc. Camera Kit and YouTube Integration arrive on Yubo

Snap Inc. Camera Kit and YouTube Integration Arrive on Yubo

Introducing Yubo Games

Yubo launches a gaming feature in a bid to bring new levels of interactivity to its users, as social distancing measures remain in place worldwide. To Be Honest, Would You Rather, Draw Quiz and Let Them Guess, are among the first in a series of free games to be launched as part of the new package, and were created in collaboration with Yubo’s global community of Gen Z users.

In recent months, Yubo has experienced a significant rise in user conversations, with a 300% increase in the number of people taking part in live streams and a 310% increase in the length of live streams.  The Yubo team has been working tirelessly in response to this surge in activity, in order to bring exciting new features to new and existing users so that they are able to socialise in a variety of ways during the ongoing pandemic.

To Be Honest: To Be Honest is the ultimate game of truth that can be played amongst new and old friends through live-streams! A streamer is selected at random and has 30 seconds to answer the question about themselves that appears on-screen, for example, ‘Who would you take with you if you were stranded on a desert island?’ Fellow gamers can vote for their favourite answers, to reveal whose inner-truths are most popular.

Would You Rather: Would You Rather enables Yubo users to discover new friends with similar interests. Gamers answer 20 questions, where they must choose their preferred option from two possible responses. At the end of the game, players are able to view which users had the most answers in common with them!

Draw Quiz: A twist on the much-loved classic, Pictionary. Users must attempt to identify words based on pictures drawn by other players. The user who has successfully drawn the most words at the end of the game wins.

Let Them Guess: A new take on the popular US game, Heads Up!, where users have 1 minute each to get creative in describing the words that appear on their screens, without mentioning the word itself.

Yubo collaborated with its community of 30 million global users in the development of the gaming feature. Just last month, we released a poll on the platform, asking users which games they’d most like to play on the app. Yubo has also implemented tools within the app to allow users to suggest content, such as questions or words, that they’d like incorporated across all 4 games in order to keep content fresh and relevant for their users.

Yubo Co-Founder and CEO, Sacha Lazimi, says: “This has been a community-based process from start to finish, as we always ensure that our users have their say. The main aim of this latest launch is to bring fun and positivity to our teenage community, helping them to stay connected with one another during this heightened period of online activity, when unfortunately, it’s not possible for them to connect in person.”

Yubo Launches new gaming feature

Yubo Launches New Gaming Feature

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Yubo joins forces with NCMEC to combat the spread of sexually inappropriate...

Yubo Introduces Features to Unite Gen Z by Interests

Yubo Launches Personalised Moderation Feature

Snap Inc. Camera Kit and YouTube Integration Arrive on Yubo

Yubo Launches New Gaming Feature

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