Apple and Google Pull Three Dating Apps Over Child Safety Concerns
Federal regulators force the removal of FastMeet, Meet24, and Meet4U after investigators discover children as young as 12 using the platforms.
Apple and Google remove three dating apps from their respective app stores following a stern warning from the Federal Trade Commission. The apps, known as FastMeet, Meet24, and Meet4U, come from Ukrainian developer Wildec and face removal because they fail to protect underage users from potential sexual predators.
The FTC discovers that these platforms allow children as young as 12 to create profiles and appear in search results. This lack of age verification directly violates the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, which mandates that developers obtain verifiable parental consent before collecting personal information from children under 13.
The regulatory agency warns Wildec about these apparent violations and plans to review the apps again over the next month. This enforcement action highlights a broader industry problem regarding child exploitation on dating platforms, a severe issue that continues to prompt global legislative scrutiny and demands for stricter safety measures.