Warning for parents over WhatsApp group

Concerns about a “Add Everyone” group has recently been highlighted on the BBC news site.

What are ‘Add Everyone’ group chats?

‘Add Everyone’ group chats can go by many names, but their purpose is often the same. These WhatsApp groups are spaces where children and young people are invited to join a chat that contains content such as sexual images, material promoting self-harm, sexual violence, racism and other inappropriate content. These chats may be created by adults seeking to connect with younger users or by young people themselves as a seemingly fun activity. However, as the name suggests, it is difficult to control who becomes a member of these groups, which means that access to children and young people can easily fall into the wrong hands. In some cases, the group owners ask for children to add their contacts to the group, ‘except their parents’.

As WhatsApp has lowered its minimum age from 16 to 13 this year, the risk of young users encountering inappropriate content and adults may increase.

The iNEQE Safeguarding Group are an independent company working in safeguarding. They have distributed more easy to understand information regarding this group and you can access that at this link – Safeguarding Alert: The ‘Add Everyone’ Explicit WhatsApp Group .