I decided to see for myself and got the app installed on my phone. After ten minutes of scrolling through my Likee feed, I messaged my editor, “This is worse than you think.” Below, I will detail exactly what I found in the two weeks I spent on Likee.
What’s Up With This TikTok Clone?
No one I know personally uses Likee, but the app is very popular worldwide. It has over 150 million active monthly users. During the first quarter of 2020, it even became the sixth most downloaded app globally. At first glance, Likee works like any other addictive social media app: it revolves around video content creation and content consumption. With its flashy stickers, special effects, and music and filters to enhance your videos, Likee mirrors TikTok in almost every way. You can “level up” by using the app more often, interacting with others, and posting a lot. Contrary to TikTok, Likee allows users to tip each other with real money (known as “diamonds” or “beans”). Personally, I’ve never seen the appeal of going viral on social media, but the opportunity to get paid for your video content adds a completely different element to that. Initially, when trying out Likee, I didn’t think too much of the money-making element. But then other features started popping up like tiny little red flags: Likee’s live streaming feature is 18+, you can filter your feed by gender, and, perhaps most importantly, it’s entirely impossible to make your profile private. While Likee has an official age restriction of 16+, there’s no age verification. Anyone can see anything, including kids and teens, who have most certainly found their way to it. Whether Likee is safe for kids or not is an issue I won’t get into here, though the short answer is a hard no. For now, let’s look at what I actually found once I downloaded the app.
The First 10 Minutes on Likee
You don’t need to create a Likee account in order to see content. All you have to do is go to your app store and download the app. One thing that stood out to me right away was the many negative reviews for the app. They ranged from worried parents to users who felt like the app was cheating them when it came to the use of financial tokens. At the same time, Likee has over 500 million downloads in the Google Play Store. What kind of app is this?
Setting up an account
Though Likee’s official privacy statement claims it’s a 16+ app, Likee has a special privacy policy for kids under the age of 13. The irony of this seems to escape the company. Not that any of the guidelines, parental controls, or policies make any difference: the “kid version” of Likee is exactly the same as the regular feed. Without an account, you can see other people’s content. But if you want to post anything, you’ll need to create an individual profile. To do so, you need to submit your phone number, date of birth, and gender and choose a username. You also have the option to link your Likee account to other social media profiles. Once you’ve created a profile, it’s automatically public to everyone. Even TikTok and all of its privacy issues is better than that. The fact that everyone instantly gets access to your account creates all sorts of issues, especially for younger users. Likee’s Nearby feature, which shows users close to you based on their real-life location, is also very dangerous.
What about content?
When I first downloaded the app, Likee allowed me to customize my feed by selecting certain categories, a feature that has since been removed. I chose a couple at random. Yet, when I opened the feed, this was the first thing I saw on the “For You” page: After scrolling through the app for a couple of minutes, I realized this type of content wasn’t going to change. The majority of videos I came across were sexual, graphic, and inappropriate in nature. Sure, explicit content on the internet is common, from pornography to deepfakes. Discussions on data protection, cybercrime, human rights, net neutrality, and online (sex) safety are complex and important to be had. But a social media platform that’s accessible with just a few clicks, with some of the worst privacy and security settings I’ve seen, is not an exemplary place for this content or these discussions. Here’s what I found in the two weeks I spent on Likee.
Investigation: What Did I Find in 14 Days?
One of my biggest worries about using Likee is that I would find inappropriate content featuring kids. It didn’t take very long. Within minutes of testing the app, I’d already seen content featuring minors. In most cases, these were short videos of young girls dancing or posing provocatively in front of the camera, sparsely dressed, or using explicit sexual language. What shocked me most, however, were the comments, the sexual undertones in the communication, the adult men offering tips for certain acts, and inviting these kids to message them privately. This is grooming and predatory behavior. While the kids in question can’t be held responsible, it signals the risk of this app right away. Clearly, it’s easy enough for children, some as young as twelve, to upload this type of content, whether it’s because they are convinced to do so, paid to do so, or simply want to.
A break-down of content
Overall, the content on Likee falls broadly into the following categories:
Lifestyle: Videos about food, makeup, clothes, etc. Popular culture: This includes content that revolves around popular TV shows or movies. Miscellaneous: This part features prank-style and filter-heavy videos that don’t exactly match any other category. Sexualized content featuring adults: There are videos where adults are dancing in sparse clothing, stripping in front of the camera, and using explicit language. Sexualized content featuring children: This type of content features children, frequently young girls, posing in skimpy clothing, dancing provocatively for the camera, and using language that is overtly sexual while asking for tips.
Over the two weeks I tested this app, I tracked the content on my “For You” page. After 14 days, this is the breakdown: As you can see, 41% of all content I came across in two weeks’ time was sexual in nature. What’s worse is that nearly a quarter of all graphic content (24%) featured children themselves. However, it doesn’t end there. Besides the content, the entire app is risky. Here’s why.
The Security Crimes of Likee
Once I found out how Likee handles user data, things really took an irreversible turn. The first issue is that the Likee app requires a lot of automatic permissions. By installing the app on your phone, this is what Likee gets instant access to:
CAMERA: Take pictures and videos READ_CONTACTS: Read your contacts READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE: Read the contents of your shared storage RECORD_AUDIO: Record audio WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE: Modify or delete the contents of your shared storage
On top of that, the list of data Likee collects is shockingly long. Besides the profile information related to your account (including your profile icon), user-generated content, and your social media information once you link to other accounts, Likee collects the following data and much more:
Facial recognition data Location data (enabled by default) Payment details Browsing and search history Operating system, mobile device identifiers, metrics on mobile apps
The privacy statement claims that Likee reserves the right to share this with external advertisers and analytics companies. Once you delete your account, they may hold onto your deleted data for 24 months. Likee also claims that it shall “not be liable for any incidental, consequential, or punitive damages” relating to its privacy policy. In other words: they’re off the hook.
So, What’s the Verdict on Likee?
In all honestly, Likee might be one of the worst social media apps I’ve ever come across, including Facebook and Instagram. From a cybersecurity perspective, Likee’s privacy policy is a mess. The language is purposefully vague, which means you never know exactly what personal data gets collected and where it ends up. On top of that, the default settings and automatic permissions are aggressively invasive. No app needs this type of access to your device or information. With regard to the content, Likee is not the fun, creative, and safe video-sharing app it seems to be at first glance. Its age restrictions are useless, and its community guidelines are not upheld in any way. I’m all for teenagers developing their digital literacy skills, but Likee will ultimately do more harm than good. In all honestly, I was glad to delete it off my phone. Have you ever used Likee? Leave a comment below if you’d like us to look into an app you’re curious about!
