Snapchat is becoming 'gossip' site for teenage gang sex and violence, investigation finds

Snapchat is putting children at risk by becoming the go-to “gossip” site for teenage gang sex and violence, an investigation has found.The messaging app – widely used by children as young as eight – is fuelling the spread of illicit sexual and violent content because of its design, according to the study by Revealing Reality, a research body which has worked for the watchdog Ofcom and BBC.It has become the “platform of choice” because of three key features: that messages disappear after 24 hours, that teenagers can be “friends” with up to 6,000 people and its capability to set up chat groups of up to 101 people.This meant Shapchat had become a “local news site” for many young, urban teenagers on which they filmed assaults, raids of people’s homes and sexual abuse including even a rape.“As a place to share illicit content, it makes sense that Snapchat is the platform of choice. By default, Stories disappear after 24-hours and Snaps disappear after they’ve been viewed,” said the researchers.“Some accounts operate more like broadcasters – distributing local ‘gossip’ to large numbers of followers – videos of fights, threats, leaked nudes.”Underage children using appFor the research, Revealing Reality conducted in-depth interviews with
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