fbpx

Warning: Pornhub is on Snapchat. And Parents Have No Idea.

Pornhub is on Snapchat - Protect Young Eyes

Warning: Pornhub is on Snapchat. And Parents Have No Idea.

Snapchat has a long history of explicit content

 

We really like technology. We also really like helping kids live amazing lives.

Admittedly, Snapchat filters are a blast! My kids laugh uncontrollably when dad looks like an ostrich or a baby.

Unfortunately, most of Snapchat’s awesomeness stops there.

Snapchat’s history is not clean. We speak to so many parents who are concerned about kids who send nudes, the predatory risks with ephemeral content, and a Discover section that gives kids instructions for how to have anal sex [ref], tells them to hide their internet activity from their parents [ref], and gives them access to Pornhub in 5 clicks [see video below].

Oh, and don’t forget their attempt on May 18, 2018, allowing Cosmo to publish After Dark with “all things hot and horny.”

The purpose of this post is educational. If your kid has Snapchat, it’s important that you know the truth about the digital playground where your child is spending time.

5 clicks to Pornhub through Snapchat

 

Snapchat will tell you that they don’t allow porn on their app. Here’s what they told KUTV 2 in Salt Lake City during a story we did with them in February:

Snapchat has a zero-tolerance policy on the promotion or distribution of pornographic content.”

We turned off every app on our iPhone except Snapchat using the Downtime feature. We then created this video showing you easy it is to still access Pornhub through Snapchat’s Stories feature.

Snapchat STORIES are the key. STORIES are compilations of Snaps from the last 24 hours.

Context – we have various test accounts that we use at PYE. This particular one added a few porn performers. They’re easy to find on Instagram and Snapchat. On Instagram, they advertise their Snap name, where with a simple click, you’re taken to Snapchat and subscribe to their account. This particular Snapchat account has already taken those steps.

Trigger warning: some individuals might find content in this video sexually triggering. 

The use of Snapchat by pornography performers like Nikki Delano, Cherie DeVille, Lela Star, Alva Jay, and many, many others is well documented. A February 13, 2019 NY Post article explained how Valentia Maria traded her $200/week tanning job for making $1,000/day selling explicit photos and videos via her Snapchat account. “Premium” Snapchat accounts are nothing new.

Three steps parents can take to prevent some porn on Snapchat

 

Parents can’t lock in any parental controls on Snapchat and parental control companies like Bark have no access to the app’s content. But there are THREE things all parents can do right now:

STEP ONE: block known porn domains.

If you allow your child to use Snapchat, be sure to block known pornography domains. You can do this easily on iOS with Content Restrictions. Follow these instructions:

Settings -> Screen Time -> Content & Privacy Restrictions -> Content Restrictions -> insert your passcode -> Web Content -> Limit Adult Websites. This will block access to Pornhub through Snapchat.

For blocking porn sites like Pornhub on other devices (Chromebooks, Android, Xbox, Kindle, and more), read: How to Block Porn on Any Device. For Free.

Problem – Twitter is not recognized as a porn domain, but porn is everywhere on Twitter, and it’s accessible just like Pornhub through FanCentro via some of the performers. Same with Instagram. Both of these sites, and many others that are attached to various FanCentro sites are accessible without ever leaving Snapchat. If you don’t want your child accessing either of these sites, then you would have to add https://instagram.com and https://twitter.com to the “Never Allow” list in Screen Time (Settings -> Screen Time -> Content & Privacy Restrictions -> Content Restrictions -> insert your password -> Web Content -> Never Allow).

A second way to block known porn domains is with the accountability solution Covenant Eyes. The filtering option on CE uses CleanBrowsing, which will block Pornhub even through Snapchat.

Covenant Eyes Accountability

STEP TWO: monitor Snapchat Stories using Bark.

Bark is the only parental control solution that monitors Snapchat Stories on both iPhone and Android devices. Use it for 7 days free. It’s an awesome solution. Bark won’t block Pornhub like Covenant Eyes, but if you want a tool that will overall monitor what Stories your child is viewing, then Bark will do that.

Bark Parental Controls

FAQ – can you use both Covenant Eyes and Bark together? Yes, you can, but only on iPhone. These two solutions are not compatible on Android devices.

STEP THREE: keep the porn conversation open and normal.

I bet that got your attention. Normalize porn. My kids talk about pornography openly and often. They joke when they see someone on the TV come out of the bathroom in a towel, “ahhh, that’s pornography!”

Recently, upon seeing me and my wife kiss in the kitchen, my teen daughter said, “Hey, knock it off, that’s pornography,” with a sly smile.

My kids are 7, 9, 9, and 14. They’ve known the word for years. That’s due to our intentional efforts to ask them, “Have you seen anything unusual, naked people, anything scary on the internet recently? You can always tell me.” ZERO shame. 110% open and comfortable. IT’S JUST A WORD.

Our conclusion: Snapchat needs to care more about kids

 

The standard response from Big Tech is that it’s up to parents to protect their kids.

Parents are absolutely the first teachers of their children when it comes to responsible use of technology. But parents cannot control all of the digital doorways that influence their children. Large technology companies have a social responsibility – a “duty of care” – to provide a reasonable set of standards and intuitive controls so that the parents who care can guide and protect their kids in the digital age.

This quote from Ruth Moss from the NSPCC summarizes our feelings well:

And I’ve often heard people say, ‘But it’s the parent’s responsibility to keep their children safe online’, and yes it absolutely is, parents need to do as much as they can, but my message today is parents cannot do that on their own because the internet is too ubiquitous and it’s too difficult to control, it’s become a giant.”

Like no other time in history, can one kid so radically and quickly change the future of another kid.

We don’t delegate meat safety to the consumer. It’s owned by meat producers so that we don’t kill people. We don’t delegate auto safety to the consumer. It’s owned by the car manufacturers so that we don’t kill people. Google. Apple. Facebook (Instagram). Snapchat. It’s time for YOU to own more of the solution. Your profits depend on human attention. Human addiction. You’ve made billions by monetizing and exploiting humans.

  • Do any of you actually have a family?
  • Do any of you have a daughter who’s addicted to social media?
  • Do any of you have a son who curiously searched for porn and now can’t stop clicking?

I simply want you to see the digital world through the eyes of a real parent. Because I swear that none of them are making decisions at your companies.

Snapchat – Evan Spiegel – your app has too much porn. And young people are seeing it. Regardless of your spiritual beliefs, you can’t possibly believe that peddling easy porn to young people is good for this earth. Please do more soon.


Now What? Have you Heard of Bark?

Are you interested in having greater insight into the social media platforms that your kids are using? Bark is one of the best platforms we’ve tested. They’re constantly looking for ways to dig further into apps like Instagram, Snapchat, and others, to keep parents informed about the information that matters. We trust them and we think you should, too!

Try Bark for Free Today!

Protect Young Eyes Logo*There are affiliate links throughout this post because we’ve tested and trust a small list of parental control solutions. Our work saves you time! If you decide that you agree with us, then we may earn a small commission, which does nothing to your price. Enjoy! 

19 thoughts on “Warning: Pornhub is on Snapchat. And Parents Have No Idea.”

  1. Not only is it a danger for exposing the children in our homes to constant sexual content but it’s aiding predators in a way unimaginable. Sex traffickers are stealing kids ,torturing and sexually abusing them on the app to make tons of money. Any predator can take a request from a consumer and deliver it to them within seconds making tons of money. I’m disgusted with Snapchat and what they have created. Infants and toddlers are being abused, tortured, exploited and killed for people to easily enjoy and make money off them. There are sick people in this world thriving off delivering content like this so easily thanks to Snapchat. Snapchat is a child abuse wonderland and that is the real tea.

    1. What’s interesting is that Snapchat doesn’t actually care. Any time I see people promoting their Onlyfans through Snapchat usually accompanying an explicit “teaser” I report them. 9 times out of 10 I get an email from Snapchat saying that it “does not violate their terms of service” when it’s clear sexual content is being promoted. I’m tired of getting friend requests room random people every day that are trying to sell me porn. It’s disgusting.

  2. Can you guys redo that video, but blur out the obvious sexual content. That was just a little too close to the edge. I’d love to share the blog, but cautious due to content.

  3. I am a technology teacher and love al the information you always post however when I went to test this out it doesn’t let me get to the section in the video where you get to see the links to click on pornhub. I get to the section where I have to put in my Snapchat name and my email for a free trial period and it asks for a credit card. I don’t get the same thing. I’d love to know how to get there so I can send an email to our parents to inform them on this.

  4. If you don’t want your kids to access this content, get them a flip phone. It’s not that difficult. I see so many spoiled children today who feel they are entitled to 1000 dollar devices. Start them on the flip phone so you can educate your children on adult topics yourself when they are ready. All of these initiatives are retroactive.

  5. I use Covenant Eyes and Bark on my son’s android device- they are compatible with each other!! They both work so well!! We are super pleased with both products. The alerts and reports they send have been SO SO great. Best money we have ever spent, I can’t recommend enough!!

  6. It’s not just parents who use parental control features. I have parental control features enabled on all my devices and I’m 28. There is just plenty of stuff I’d rather not see and so I use these features to filter that out. I agree with what was said in the article about discussing this stuff with your kids. Knowing why you are doing something and understanding why you are doing something does, in my opinion, make the kids more likely to do what you want and it also fosters important discussions about things that will certainly affect them as adults.

  7. Thank you so much for this article! I was concerned about porn in snap chat and just googled “ is there Porn on Snapchat “ it took me to a statement from them ! Then under that I saw your article! I’m so glad I saw yours and not just there’s ! I wish this app would care about children and what they are being exposed to! I wish I would of known about parental controls when my son was a teenager! He had a smart phone and I didn’t!! I had no idea what he could access on his phone! My youngest is 16 and I have learned a ton with her ! I delayed giving her a phone until she was 15 and now know all about being able to restrict content! Your article gave me more information that I can implement and I am grateful!

  8. The big thing you are leaving out here is that you can do this from any social media, not just Snapchat.
    1.if you go on someone’s Instagram, and they have a link to a premium account or pornhub, then just one click later, you will be taken there. Same as Facebook and Twitter and any other place that people can put links.
    2.your child will not see all of those pornstars unless he or she subscribes to them. If they already know the pornstar’s name and subscribe to them, then they already knew about that pornstar. Snapchat didn’t recommend it or anything sexual like that at all.
    3. the discovery section was a for you page, the only reason you would have anything innapropriate on there is if you showed frequent inappropriate activity, like following pornstars.

    My point is Snapchat isn’t exposing your kids to anything sexual. if they were exposed, it was probably from someone else, not social media.
    plus if you are worried about nudes it doesn’t matter what platform is used they can be sent easily from anything including text.

  9. also kids who use standard platforms like google to search anything won’t “stumble” upon anything sexual because all frowned upon content is restricted by default. If you don’t manually turn off safe search then even if you look up “naked girls” then under images there will literally be some couple smiling or having a picnic.

  10. The entire PURPOSE of Snapchat was to enable porn – specifically “sexting” while dodging accountability. The “fun filters” were added specifically to draw in a bigger user base and give it cover.

    How to protect people from the bad stuff on Snapchat? Block it entirely.

  11. Does Snapchat make it too easy for kids to access porn?…probably, but I don’t think it’s as easy as you portrayed it to be. I have a Snapchat account which I hardly ever use, but when I have used it, I don’t ever remember porn stars advertising their sites at the top of the Discover page. There lots of videos in the main section that you can scroll through which have bikini-clad women, but so do beaches and many current advertisements. It would be much easier for kids to access porn on Twitter.
    Regarding the statement from the woman who was declaring that Snapchat was a haven for predators and that kidnapping and posting of abused children was rampant, the first thing I thought was “On Snapchat”?!, but then I realized it must be a case of “Well, I heard it from…..”. A couple of the other comments just struck me as Puritanical and naïve and I felt like I was back with the nuns in Catechism classes (one of the many reasons I’m an agnostic now). I am all for cracking down on child pornography and prosecuting child predators to the fullest extent of the law and I wish all fringe violent/weird paraphilia porn would magically disappear, but trying to eliminate any chance of seeing a nude adult from every single social media platform on earth is naïve at best and a violation of first amendment protections at worst. I believe being open and honest with your children about the potential dangers of the internet and how to avoid them, along with frank discussions about the beauty and risks of human sexuality, is the best way to protect them.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Stay up to date

Scroll to Top
13K Shares
Share13K
Tweet
Pin6
Share