Is OmeTV Safe for Kids? No! In-depth Review for Parents

OmeTV has become more and more popular (on social media anyways) with plenty of impressionable kids thinking they could star in a YouTube video by getting on OmeTV. Or maybe they heard about the platform and thought it would be a good way to make some new friends online.

While these are seemingly innocent interactions, parents may be worrying: is OmeTV safe for kids?

The short answer is NO. OmeTV is not safe for kids. Today, we’re showcasing an in-depth overview of the OmeTV platform to get you better informed.

1: What Is OmeTV?

OmeTV is a ‘random’ video chatting app that pairs you with a random person to get on a video call with. Its anonymity of allowing users to interact with strangers without revealing identity attracts millions of people worldwide.

Users can then engage with the other participants to talk while on the video call. OmeTV allows you to share what gender you are and what country you are from.

When you match with someone on OmeTV, you can ‘skip’ or end the chat instantly. This is a kind of ‘safeguard’ that allows users to immediately stop chatting with someone they don’t feel comfortable with or simply don’t want to talk to.

And based on the description and how it works, OmeTV is simply another ‘Omegle’ in the making.

To sum up, OmeTV is okay for adults to use, but definitely not safe for kids. Why is that? Keep on reading.

2: 6 Safety Concerns of Kids Using OmeTV

This part shares the possible safety concerns about OmeTV and you will learn why OmeTV is unsafe for kids after that.

Dangerous Strangers

One of the biggest red flags for kids using OmeTV is that they are engaging and speaking to strangers, who are oftentimes adults.

This can lead to several concerns, for example, when an adult can speak to a child and say heinous things, or possibly gain information about your child (phone number, location, or account credentials).

These types of platforms like OmeTV are known to be a ‘haven’ for groomers and pedophiles since they allow them access to minors, and in most instances, when they are alone and do not understand the dangers of engaging with these strangers.

Cox Mobile Survey says that 31% of children are contacted by strangers. And a survey of almost 4,000 children found 43% of children are talking to strangers online, and half of them revealed their phone number to strangers. These strangers may use the information to blackmail, harass, or embarrass children.

Exposure to Inappropriate Content

Besides meeting strangers on the OmeTV platform, another big concern is ‘what’ people use these platforms for.

Many users get on random video chatting platforms to engage in ‘cybersex’ which is already inappropriate for unwanting adult strangers, but even more so if your kids can accidentally stumble upon this themselves.

With a lack of ‘filtering’ for the platform, it’s easy for your kids to suddenly be matched with someone who is nude or exposing themselves. This is a major safety risk since your children are at an age where they might be easily manipulated or coerced to engage in these acts.

Moreover, platforms like OmeTV or Omegle are used by some people to make child pornography. According to The Washington Post, a Virginia man used Omegle to produce child pornography, victimizing around 1,000 girls as young as 7 years old. Since OmeTV is similar to Omegle, similar risks exist on OmeTV for kids.

Cyberbullying

Due to the nature of the platform and ‘anonymity’, users are prone to be cyber-bullied by random users they match with. This could take the form of verbal assaults, disparaging remarks about your kid's appearance, or otherwise violent and abusive behavior that could shock or scare your children.

According to Annapolis Police Department, nearly 42% of kids have been bullied online, and 25% of kids have been cyber-bullied more than once. The common forms of cyberbullying are:

• Ignoring
• Disrespecting
• Threatening or abusive messages/talks
• Sharing embarrassing images or videos
• Shaming

Just like a user on Quora asked: “People call me ugly on OMETV and I can't stop thinking about it. What should I do?” You can see the real life impacts this site can cause on people.

Since there are no potential consequences for anything the matched user says or does during the chat if they skip, it’s easy for children to be easily influenced by what is said which could make them feel self-conscious and depressed about themselves.

Security Threats

Another concern that ties in with meeting strangers online on OmeTV is that they’re potential security threats. In this case, children engaging with strangers online could meet potential groomers who ask them for personal or sensitive information.

This could be their name, the school they go to, social media accounts, or even their home address. With children who might be too innocent and unknowingly providing this information, they could be open to further threats off the OmeTV platform.

Not to mention that there are many YouTubers who make content using OmeTV. There could be instances where a YouTuber engages with your child on the platform and includes them in a video, which can increase the risks of exposing kids to the public and real life.

Lack of Age Verification

OmeTV does have an age requirement to use their platform which is stated in their Rules and Regulations page. Here, they’ve stated that “To use our service, you must be considered an adult (be of the age of majority) under your country's laws.”

However, the reality is there are still children who circumvent these rules by using fake accounts and simply completing the ‘age verification’ by clicking a button. That’s the extent of how OmeTV checks for a user’s age which isn’t out of the norm for social media platforms, but it’s still something to note.

Additionally, to create an account on OmeTV the user simply requires a Facebook or VK account. Both of these are relatively simple to create and even with these accounts, there are no additional age verification methods to stop a child from accessing the platform.

Reporting Difficulties

Lastly, another problem to consider is that even if your child is matched with an inappropriate stranger, if the stranger ‘skips’ after the interaction, the ‘report’ feature on OmeTV cannot be used.

This leads you to be unable to take any action against potential abusers since it is hard to use the report feature.

This also keeps the abuser on the platform, since they aren’t able to be reported quickly or efficiently enough. This also doesn’t take into account whether children know or will use the ‘report’ feature in the first place.

More importantly, suppose the offenders is reported successfully, there aren’t effective methods to take effect, and they probably not dealt with as expected.

3: Real-Life Cases of OmeTV Risks

After explaining the potential risks of OmeTV, we have also concluded some real life cases to show you the real-life damages it can cause.

Case 1

In February 2021, the BBC released a story on their investigation of the Omegle site, which functions similarly to OmeTV. During their investigation, they found what ‘appeared to be prepubescent boys touching themselves’ explicitly.

Throughout this duration, some were matched with ‘dozens of under-18’ users, with some who appeared to be as young as seven or eight. They go on to mention that in a span of two hours, they were also matched with ‘12 masturbating men’, ‘eight naked males’, and ‘seven porn adverts’.

This investigation highlighted the real-world usage of the platform and the very ‘real’ dangers of accessing it, especially for children.

Case 2

Another story reported by the outlet Mother Jones highlighted a case where a 12-year-old girl, Alauna, and her friends had engaged with the Omegle platform (similar to OmeTV) while at a sleepover with friends.

Eventually, after Alauna’s mother was alerted to the incident, she checked her daughter’s phone only to find provocative, and ‘naked’ images and videos. She had reportedly sent these images and videos to at least 30 men, including people whom she had originally encountered on Omegle.

Again, this is only one such case in a sea of thousands of similar stories, further highlighting the potential dangers to children engaging with ‘random video chat’ platforms like OmeTV.

4: Tips for Parents to Monitor Children's Online Activity

Since OmeTV is not safe for children to use, parents should keep an eye on children’s online activity to safeguard them. However, it’s unrealistic to completely prevent children from using mobile phones and internet. Here are some tips for parents:

Open Communication

The first step is to have an open communication with kids, help them understand the advantages and disadvantages of the online world. Most kids are innocent and think everyone are nice and kind, even strangers. However, it’s essential to teach them to be conscious of strangers and keep their personal information in safe.

Also, it’s very important to be open and reliable for kids. In case kids feel uncomfortable or confused when surfing online, they should be able to seek help from parents in time.

Educate About Online Safety

Another important lesson is to educate your children on what they can and cannot do while they are online.

While parents stress the importance of ‘stranger danger’ in the real world, the online world is equally perilous, so a child needs to understand that strangers they meet online (on social media, OmeTV, or through gaming) don’t always have the best intentions in mind.

Provide Alternatives

Instead of meeting people and adults on platforms like OmeTV, try and recommend alternative platforms for your child to meet friends and socialize online. A good (mostly) safe space for kids is typically gaming.

In particular, games that are more kid-friendly like Roblox or Minecraft have avid communities of similarly aged kids for them to engage and play with. That’s not to say these platforms are 100% safe, but they are far more regulated and strictly monitored.

Use Parental Controls

Lastly, you’ll want to explore and include the use of parental controls on your children’s devices. It’s essential to control what type of content your children consume and monitor their online interactions to ensure they’re safe.

So leverage the parental control feature within apps or devices, so that you can safeguard the children’s online safety.

5: All-in-One Parental Control App to Safeguard Kids

While built-in device parental controls can be useful, they’re often not as fully-fledged as dedicated platforms. In such cases, it might be a good idea to employ more feature-packed alternatives, like AirDroid Parental Control.

6: Conclusion

That said, we’ve reached the end of our guide and we hope you’re not better informed about OmeTV. At its core though, OmeTV isn’t a ‘bad’ platform for adults to use or engage in. It can be helpful to find someone to talk to or just meet new people.

However, with the ever-looming dangers of the internet condensed into one platform, for children, OmeTV is not a safe space for kids.