Yubo Unveils Groundbreaking Online Safety Policy Document in the U.S., Pioneering Efforts to Apply Global Standards for Youth Protection Online

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Jan 26, 2024, 08:03 ET

The award-winning Yubo-AFNOR Spec reference document provides practical and operational recommendations for enhancing safety on online platforms
The policy guide is the work of a coalition of more than 20 partner organizations in both the public and private sector

NEW YORK, Jan. 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Executive leaders of Yubo, the Paris-based social discovery platform for Gen Z, will be engaging key U.S. stakeholder groups in online safety policy and nonprofit advocacy in New York City this month to present a recently unveiled reference document on youth online safety principles.

Developed by Yubo in partnership with the Association Française de Normalisation (AFNOR), the Yubo-AFNOR Spec policy document breaks new ground in the arena of online safety by outlining uniform standards that are universally applicable for strengthening safeguards on online platforms and enhancing protections for minors. The document serves as a toolbox, with practical and operational recommendations for both public and private sector organizations that leverage the insights and expertise from a global coalition made up of leaders from more than a dozen partner organizations, including:

Meta
Yoti, the leading digital identity solution provider for government and industry worldwide
Arcom (France's Audiovisual and Digital Communication Regulatory Authority)
French Data Protection Authority CNIL

The initiative comes on the heels of pivotal policy implementations across Europe, with the European Digital Service Act and the United Kingdom's Online Safety Bill, and emerging regulations are being debated in several states across the U.S. and in the Supreme Court.

The English-language version of Yubo-AFNOR Spec, unveiled today, is divided into three parts:

Account verification and age assurance
Content moderation and risk detection
Awareness and transparency

Yubo has been awarded the Trophée Or'Normes prize in the "Trusted and Responsible Digitization" category for having initiated and contributed to the development of this document.

"To limit the safety risks that kids and teens encounter online today, and equip platforms with the tools that can ensure young people are able to remain safely engaged with the world around them, a collective and collaborative response that is globalized is essential," said Yubo Head of Legal & Public Policy Sharone Franco, who spearheaded this initiative alongside AFNOR.

In France, 87% of kids aged 11 and 12 report regularly using at least one social network, with the average age of first-time social media users in the country being 8 years old, according to CNIL.

Daily use of social media and online platforms is similarly widespread in the United States. A majority of U.S. teenagers report spending at least four hours per day on social media apps, according to a 2023 Gallup survey.^¹

"Protecting minors, who are using social media at an increasingly early age, is becoming a matter of urgency," said Julie Latawiex, AFNOR's Head of Development and Innovation. "The legislative framework is necessary, but not sufficient. This document provides common sense and food for thought."

Since launching in 2015, Yubo has leveraged collaborative relationships with leading organizations, like AFNOR and other industry leaders, to hone its approach to online safety innovation. The platform's leadership of the AFNOR initiative deepens its policy framework to harm reduction for its global user base of teens and young adults aged 14 to 25, while also fostering new relationships to facilitate policy collaboration among international markets.

The English-language version of the Yubo-AFNOR Spec reference document is available by request.

ABOUT YUBO
Yubo is a live social discovery app that makes it easy for Gen Z to make new friends and hang out online. By eliminating likes and follows, we empower young people to show up as their true selves and form genuine connections. As a platform serving teens and young adults, safety is a cornerstone of Yubo. All of our features and policies are developed with guidance from our board of safety experts, which is made up of respected leaders and online safety experts from such organizations as the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), Thorn, and The Diana Award. Founded in France in 2015, more than 80 million users across more than 140 countries have joined Yubo to date. Visit us at yubo.live to learn more and follow our journey.

ABOUT AFNOR
The Association Française de Normalisation (AFNOR) is a Paris-based standards organization and a member body for France at the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) serving the general interest and sustainable development. The AFNOR group has 1,217 employees at 38 locations around the world and 63,000 customers. It has designed solutions based on voluntary standards, sources of progress, and trust since 1926. Visit afnor.org to learn more.

¹ Gallup: 'Teens Spend Average of 4.8 Hours on Social Media Per Day' 2023 https://news.gallup.com/poll/512576/teens-spend-average-hours-social-media-per-day.aspx

For inquiries:
Debora Lima, Yubo Media Director
[email protected]

SOURCE Yubo