Is the Monkey App Safe? A Monkey App Review for Parents

Harmful Content 😲

Monkey’s community guidelines state that they do not allow any form of nudity, violence, weaponry, drug use, or cyberbullying. To their credit, Monkey seems to emphasize their safety efforts more than other video chatting apps. When you’re matched with another user, there’s a clear, red button in the corner to report them if needed. Monkey has a 24/7 human moderation team that reviews all reports within 24 hours. In addition to this, they have machine-learning technology to identify users frequently violating the rules. 

All of this sounds great, but unfortunately, the reality is not a safer experience on the platform. From our investigation, our team encountered both sexual activity and drug use within the first few minutes of video chatting with users. So while Monkey does their best to take inappropriate content down after it’s been discovered, they do not seem to have any mechanisms to block it from the platform in the first place. 

Predation 🚨

As we mentioned, with no age verification, you can bet both kids and adults are matched with each other on Monkey all the time. If we know this, then predators absolutely know this, too. 

Grooming can first take place during the video chats, as well as through the live text chat feature that’s available on Monkey. However, there’s also a “Super DM” feature, where you can message users you previously matched with. The catch is that you have to pay to get “Coins” (Monkey’s in-app currency) and then use the Coins to purchase a Super DM. Kids might not be likely to pay for this, but predators may convince them or even send them the money for the Coins to keep the conversation going.

But more than likely, predators will skip all of that and simply ask for the child’s Snapchat, Discord, or any other messaging app where they can continue grooming tactics in another private space.

Privacy 🔒

When you register on Monkey, it asks for your name, birthday, and gender. When you match with another user, it automatically displays your full name, age, and location. There are currently no settings to hide your location or other personal information. 

Parental Controls ✅

Since the site is technically for 18+ users, there are no parental controls. And with no age verification, parents cannot rely on Monkey itself to make sure their kid can’t have access to it.

The good news is that parents can utilize another option! Parents can keep their kids safe by using a parental control app like Bark to ensure Monkey is indefinitely blocked from their kids’ devices. Bark’s powerful web filtering services ensure that both the app and website are blocked from use, even if they try to download it or search it on their browser. 

Additionally, Bark’s monitoring includes your child’s email. This means that if they use their email address to register for Monkey on a different device, you’ll get a notification straight to your phone. This empowers parents to be in tune with their children’s online world and stop potentially dangerous situations before they escalate. And remember, these parental controls are much more effective when paired with honest communication between you and your child.

So, should my kid download it?

No, we do not feel kids should use Monkey. With such a high potential for inappropriate or harmful interactions, we encourage parents to be very wary of Monkey and similar video chat platforms.