65 harmful apps, 24 wrongly age-rated found in Singapore review of over 7,000 apps

Sexual content, violent content and content facilitating vice and organised crime were the most prevalent types of harmful and inappropriate content found.

A teenager holds a mobile phone. (File photo: REUTERS/Jeremy Piper)

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SINGAPORE: A total of 65 apps with harmful content and 24 that had wrong age ratings were found in a review of over 7,000 across five app stores, the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) said on Saturday (Oct 24).

In its first online safety assessment for app stores , IMDA said the apps were identified between April and December 2025 and have since been removed or re-rated. They were found on Apple App Store, Google Play Store, Huawei AppGallery, Microsoft Store and Samsung Galaxy Store.

Sexual content, violent content and content facilitating vice and organised crime were the most prevalent types of harmful and inappropriate content.

Of the 65 apps that were removed for containing harmful content, 59 contained sexual content, four contained violent content, and two contained content facilitating vice and organised crime.

CNA Games Guess Word Crack the word, one row at a time Buzzword Create words using the given letters Mini Sudoku Tiny puzzle, mighty brain teaser Mini Crossword Small grid, big challenge Word Search Spot as many words as you can Show More Show Less Apps removed for breaching store policies included one with a “nudification function” that could transform uploaded photos of individuals into sexually explicit images, a game with excessive violent content including murder and a gambling app with crypto or real-money payouts. Of the 24 apps that were wrongly age-rated, 14 contained sexual content, three contained violent content, and seven contained content facilitating vice and organised crime. Apps without appropriate age ratings included AI chatbots with sexualised prompts or games related to adult sexual experiences, a game involving weapons in a school setting and a role-playing game set in crime and drug themes. The number of apps identified is small relative to those available, but shows that some harmful and inappropriate apps may still slip through existing safeguards, IMDA said. It added that accurate age ratings minimise children’s access to inappropriate content and give parents reliable information on whether apps are suitable for their children.

Apps removed for breaching store policies included one with a “nudification function” that could transform uploaded photos of individuals into sexually explicit images, a game with excessive violent content including murder and a gambling app with crypto or real-money payouts.

Of the 24 apps that were wrongly age-rated, 14 contained sexual content, three contained violent content, and seven contained content facilitating vice and organised crime.

Apps without appropriate age ratings included AI chatbots with sexualised prompts or games related to adult sexual experiences, a game involving weapons in a school setting and a role-playing game set in crime and drug themes.

The number of apps identified is small relative to those available, but shows that some harmful and inappropriate apps may still slip through existing safeguards, IMDA said. It added that accurate age ratings minimise children’s access to inappropriate content and give parents reliable information on whether apps are suitable for their children.

AGE ASSURANCE METHODS

In its report, IMDA also assessed age assurance methods for children, using information from the app stores’ annual online safety reports to the regulator and its own testing and data.

Age assurance methods include age inference, which uses credit card verification and behavioural signals such as search and watch history; age estimation through facial scans; and age verification through official documents such as Singpass. These measures must be implemented in accordance with the Personal Data Protection Act.

The regulator used test accounts to simulate and document the user journey at stages where age assurance may be triggered, testing the robustness of checks and ease of circumvention across device types.

It found that the age assurance methods deployed by app stores were present, and measures generally could not be easily circumvented

However, IMDA noted that no age assurance method is "completely foolproof". A child can still circumvent these measures, such as by using their parent’s account to access age-inappropriate content.

Ensuring online safety, especially for young users, must be accompanied by measures such as public education and parental supervision, it added.

IMDA's checks also found that children were largely restricted from downloading 18+ apps by default on all app stores.

However, on Huawei AppGallery and Microsoft Store, the tests uncovered a few instances where restrictions were absent or could be bypassed due to loopholes that let children turn them off. These have mostly been rectified after IMDA engaged the app stores.

App stores were also inconsistent in how they notified users of the outcomes of their reports via reporting channels. Google Play Store and Samsung Galaxy Store did not notify users who had downloaded an app within six months of its removal. Both have agreed to improve their notification processes after engaging with the regulator.

IMDA said it will continue to track progress of improvements and engage the app stores as necessary.

"Should any of the D-ADS (designated app distribution services) fail to satisfy IMDA that it has improved its measures to address the weaknesses, IMDA will not hesitate to explore further options, including potential regulatory action under the Broadcasting Act," it said.

The regulator announced in January 2025 that it would require app stores to implement measures to protect children from inappropriate apps under the Code of Practice for Online Safety for App Distribution Services.

The code, issued under the Broadcasting Act, came into effect on Mar 31, 2025.

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发现的有害和不当内容中，最常见的是色情内容、暴力内容以及助长犯罪和有组织犯罪的内容。

一名青少年手持手机。（资料照片：路透社/杰里米·派珀）

这段音频由人工智能工具生成。

新加坡：新加坡资讯通信媒体发展局（IMDA）周六（10月24日）表示，在对五个应用商店的7000多个应用进行审查后，共发现65个含有有害内容的应用和24个年龄评级错误的应用。

新加坡资讯通信媒体发展局（IMDA）在其首次针对应用商店的在线安全评估中表示，这些应用是在2025年4月至12月期间被发现的，目前已被下架或重新评级。这些应用出现在苹果应用商店、谷歌应用商店、华为应用市场、微软应用商店和三星应用商店中。

色情内容、暴力内容以及助长犯罪和有组织犯罪的内容是最常见的有害和不当内容类型。

在因包含有害内容而被删除的 65 个应用程序中，59 个包含色情内容，4 个包含暴力内容，2 个包含助长卖淫和有组织犯罪的内容。

CNA Games 猜词游戏 逐行破解单词 流行词游戏 使用给定字母创建单词 迷你数独 小谜题，脑力挑战 迷你填字游戏 小方格，大挑战 单词搜索 尽可能多地找到单词 显示更多 显示更少 因违反应用商店政策而被移除的应用包括：一款带有“裸露功能”的应用，可以将上传的个人照片转换为色情图片；一款包含过度暴力内容（包括谋杀）的游戏；以及一款提供加密货币或真钱支付的赌博应用。在24款被错误评级的应用中，14款包含色情内容，3款包含暴力内容，7款包含助长不良行为和有组织犯罪的内容。未进行适当年龄评级的应用包括：带有性暗示的AI聊天机器人或与成人性体验相关的游戏；一款涉及校园场景的武器游戏；以及一款以犯罪和毒品为主题的角色扮演游戏。新加坡资讯通信媒体发展局（IMDA）表示，与所有可用应用相比，已识别的应用数量较少，但这表明一些有害和不合适的应用仍然可能绕过现有的安全措施。报告还指出，准确的年龄分级可以最大限度地减少儿童接触不适宜内容的机会，并为家长提供可靠的信息，帮助他们判断应用程序是否适合自己的孩子。

因违反应用商店政策而被下架的应用包括：一款带有“裸露功能”的应用，可以将上传的个人照片转换为露骨的性图像；一款包含过度暴力内容（包括谋杀）的游戏；以及一款提供加密货币或真钱支付的赌博应用。

在 24 个被错误评级的应用程序中，14 个包含色情内容，3 个包含暴力内容，7 个包含助长犯罪和有组织犯罪的内容。

没有适当年龄评级的应用包括带有性暗示的 AI 聊天机器人或与成人性体验相关的游戏、在学校环境中涉及武器的游戏以及以犯罪和毒品为主题的角色扮演游戏。

新加坡资讯通信媒体发展局（IMDA）表示，虽然已识别出的应用程序数量相对于现有应用程序总数而言较少，但这表明一些有害和不适宜的应用程序仍然可能绕过现有的安全措施。IMDA补充说，准确的年龄分级可以最大限度地减少儿童接触不适宜内容的机会，并为家长提供可靠的信息，帮助他们判断应用程序是否适合自己的孩子。

年龄保证方法

在其报告中，IMDA 还利用应用商店向监管机构提交的年度在线安全报告以及其自身的测试和数据，评估了儿童年龄保证方法。

年龄验证方法包括年龄推断（利用信用卡验证和搜索、观看记录等行为信号）、面部扫描年龄估算以及通过官方文件（例如Singpass）进行年龄验证。这些措施必须按照《个人数据保护法》的规定实施。

监管机构使用测试账户来模拟和记录用户在可能触发年龄保证的各个阶段的操作流程，测试检查的稳健性和各种设备类型的规避难易程度。

调查发现，应用商店部署的年龄验证措施是存在的，而且这些措施通常不容易被绕过。

然而，新加坡资讯通信媒体发展局（IMDA）指出，没有任何年龄验证方法是“万无一失的”。儿童仍然可以通过使用父母的账号访问不适合其年龄的内容等方式来绕过这些措施。

报告还指出，确保网络安全，特别是对于年轻用户而言，必须辅以公众教育和家长监督等措施。

IMDA 的检查还发现，所有应用商店默认都对儿童下载 18 岁以上应用进行了很大程度上的限制。

然而，在华为应用市场和微软商店中，测试发现部分应用的限制措施缺失或存在漏洞，儿童可以通过这些漏洞关闭限制。在新加坡资讯通信媒体发展局（IMDA）与应用商店沟通后，这些问题大多已得到解决。

应用商店在通过举报渠道通知用户举报结果方面也存在不一致之处。例如，谷歌应用商店和三星应用商店均未通知在应用下架六个月内下载过该应用的用户。在与监管机构沟通后，两家应用商店均已同意改进通知流程。

新加坡资讯通信媒体发展局（IMDA）表示，将继续跟踪改进进展情况，并在必要时与应用商店进行沟通。

“如果任何指定应用程序分发服务 (D-ADS) 未能让 IMDA 相信其已改进措施以解决弱点，IMDA 将毫不犹豫地探索进一步的选项，包括根据《广播法》采取潜在的监管行动，”声明中写道。

监管机构于 2025 年 1 月宣布，将要求应用商店根据《在线应用分发服务安全行为准则》采取措施，保​​护儿童免受不适宜应用的侵害。

该守则根据《广播法》颁布，于 2025 年 3 月 31 日生效。

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