Deletion of Video Roulette App

Apple and Google have removed roulette-style video chat service OmeTV from their Australian app stores after being alerted that the app was being used by predatory adults to groom and sexually exploit Australian children.

OmeTV paired adults and children together randomly for live video chat and led to grooming and sexual exploitation of Australian children, as well as others globally.

Australian law enforcement agencies have long raised concerns about the use of these types of chat-roulette style services by child sexual abuse offenders to groom children.

The App Store Code requires app store providers to be proactive in ensuring apps available on their Australian app stores have appropriate protections in relation to unlawful and seriously harmful material such as child sexual exploitation.

eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said, “The service entirely failed to engage with eSafety, despite receiving a warning from us for failing to comply with Australian law, but due to the multi-layered protections provided under the codes, the distribution channels for this dangerous app have been limited.”

In August, eSafety sent a formal warning to OmeTV’s parent company ‘Bad Kitty’s Dad, LDA’, based in Portugal, for alleged breaches of Australia’s codes and standards, namely the Relevant Electronic Services (RES) industry standard.

The Commissioner also wrote to Apple and Google to remind them of their own obligations to protect children under the App Store code.

eSafety expects Apple and Google to take this opportunity to review the apps available on their Australian stores more broadly to ensure there are no other similar apps available that breach app store terms and conditions.

The Codes and Standards are a key requirement set out in Australia’s Online Safety Act requiring all members of the online industry to tackle the worst-of-the-worst online content, including apps that enable child sexual exploitation and abuse on their services.

“We will continue to monitor compliance with the codes and standards and action where necessary to protect children from the most serious harms,” Ms Inman Grant said.

The Codes and Standards apply to eight industry sections, including social media services, websites, search engines, app stores, internet service providers, device manufacturers, hosting services, and electronic services, including cloud-based file and photo storage, email, messaging, gaming and dating services.

There are a range of additional enforcement powers available to eSafety, including seeking civil penalties of up to $49.5m, which eSafety will use as required to ensure the safety of Australians.

eSafety encourages children, parents, carers and the community to read eSafety’s recent advisory on the risks of these ‘chat-roulette’ services.