{"id":5858,"date":"2026-02-10T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.malwarebytes.com\/press\/?p=5858"},"modified":"2026-02-09T13:53:43","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T21:53:43","slug":"cracks-in-social-media-platforms-allow-kids-under-13-access-to-content-on-fraud-drugs-and-other-illicit-activity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.malwarebytes.com\/press\/2026\/02\/10\/cracks-in-social-media-platforms-allow-kids-under-13-access-to-content-on-fraud-drugs-and-other-illicit-activity","title":{"rendered":"Cracks in Social Media Platforms Allow\u00a0Kids Under 13\u00a0Access to Content on Fraud, Drugs and Other Illicit Activity\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\"><em>New Malwarebytes&nbsp;research explores digital safety of social media for kids&nbsp;<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>SANTA CLARA, Calif. \u2013 Feb 10, 2026&nbsp;<\/strong>\u2013 Malwarebytes, a global leader in online protection, released new research that explores how social media and gaming platforms from Discord to YouTube handle children\u2019s online use. Malwarebytes found that most services work well when kids use the accounts and settings designed for them. But when children are curious, use the wrong account type, or step outside those boundaries, they can easily find content related to criminal activity,&nbsp;purchasing&nbsp;drugs and other illicit or explicit content.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Explore the full findings:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.malwarebytes.com\/blog\/family-and-parenting\/2026\/02\/how-safe-are-kids-using-social-media-we-did-the-groundwork\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">www.malwarebytes.com\/blog\/family-and-parenting\/2026\/02\/how-safe-are-kids-using-social-media-we-did-the-groundwork<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Parents are navigating a fast-moving digital world&nbsp;where offline consequences are quickly felt, be it spoofed accounts, deepfake content or lost funds,&#8221; said Mark Beare, GM of Consumer at Malwarebytes.&nbsp;&#8220;Safeguards exist and are encouraged, but children can still be exposed to harmful content. Parents and guardians need to stay involved: set clear boundaries, start conversations now about cybersecurity and privacy, and build good habits early. Simple steps, such as limiting personal data shared online or using pseudonyms where&nbsp;appropriate, will help protect&nbsp;kids&nbsp;long&nbsp;term.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Key Findings<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What&nbsp;emerged&nbsp;was a consistent pattern: curious kids who poke around a little, or who end up using the wrong account type, can run into inappropriate content with surprisingly little effort.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Cracks in the moderation foundations allow&nbsp;risky&nbsp;content:<\/strong>&nbsp;Roblox filters chats for child accounts. However, it also features \u201cCommunities,\u201d which are groups designed for socializing and discovery. These groups are easily searchable on Roblox, and some use names and terminology commonly linked to criminal activities, including fraud and identity theft. One, called \u201cFullz,\u201d uses a term widely understood to refer to stolen personal information, and&nbsp;\u201cnew clothes\u201d&nbsp;is often used to refer to a new batch of stolen payment card data. The visible community may serve as a gateway, while the actual coordination of illicit activity or data trading occurs via&nbsp;\u201cinner chatter\u201d&nbsp;between the community members. The team also found Instagram profiles promoting financial fraud and crypto schemes, even from restricted teen accounts.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Protection on YouTube is opt-in:&nbsp;<\/strong>While&nbsp;the&nbsp;YouTube&nbsp;Kids platform was locked down&nbsp;in relation to&nbsp;content, the&nbsp;public site&nbsp;is open and&nbsp;hosts a range of inappropriate material, from&nbsp;\u201chow-to\u201d&nbsp;fraud channels through to scenes of semi-nudity and sexually suggestive material.&nbsp;Researchers even found scenes of human execution.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Adult accounts are easy to fake:&nbsp;<\/strong>Once past the age gates, curious kids can quickly get&nbsp;to&nbsp;inappropriate material. Researchers found unmoderated nudity and explicit material on the social network Discord, along with TikTok content providing credit card fraud and identity theft tutorials. A little searching on the streaming site Twitch surfaced ads for escort services.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How parents can help keep kids safe online<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Parental involvement&nbsp;is the&nbsp;most important layer of protection. Open communication and frequent discussions about what to expect online,&nbsp;what is&nbsp;appropriate behavior&nbsp;by&nbsp;others&nbsp;and what to do if they feel uncomfortable is key.&nbsp;Also, be clear with kids about the real risks involved&nbsp;and why it is important to think about privacy today.&nbsp;Other guidance includes:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Use child or teen accounts where&nbsp;available and&nbsp;avoid defaulting to adult accounts.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Keep friends and&nbsp;followers&nbsp;lists set to private.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Avoid using real names, birthdays, or other identifying details unless they are strictly&nbsp;required.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Where possible, use dummy data for non-essential profile fields.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Avoid facial recognition features for children\u2019s accounts.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>For teens, be aware of \u201cspam\u201d or secondary accounts&nbsp;they&#8217;ve&nbsp;set up that may have looser settings.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Proactively&nbsp;monitor&nbsp;the identity of your entire family. Get real-time alerts and action steps&nbsp;if their data is being traded or sold across the Dark Web and more&nbsp;with&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.malwarebytes.com\/identity-theft-protection\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Malwarebytes Identity Theft Protection.<\/a>&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Malwarebytes all-in-one protection<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Parents also have a partner with Malwarebytes. For insights into&nbsp;scams, information on important privacy topics,&nbsp;proactive protection against threats and human support, Malwarebytes offers&nbsp;all-in-one&nbsp;security,&nbsp;privacy&nbsp;and identity&nbsp;solutions. Learn more at&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.malwarebytes.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">www.malwarebytes.com<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To read more about the latest threats and cyber protection strategies, visit the Malwarebytes&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.malwarebytes.com\/blog\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">blog<\/a>, or follow us on&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Malwarebytes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Facebook<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/malwarebytesofficial\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Instagram<\/a>,\u202f<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/malwarebytes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">LinkedIn<\/a>,\u202f<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@malwarebytesofficial\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">TikTok<\/a>&nbsp;and\u202f<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Malwarebytes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">X<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New Malwarebytes&nbsp;research explores digital safety of social media for kids&nbsp;&nbsp; SANTA CLARA, Calif. \u2013 Feb 10, 2026&nbsp;\u2013 Malwarebytes, a global leader&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":122,"featured_media":5849,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[184,701,14,17,700,24,586],"blog_type":[],"class_list":["post-5858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-releases","tag-cybersecurity","tag-kids","tag-malwarebytes","tag-news","tag-roblox","tag-security","tag-threat-intel"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.1 (Yoast SEO v27.1.1) - 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