Last week, Cosmopolitan Magazine promoted a new Snapchat channel called “Cosmo After Dark,” which was a highly sexualized channel that promoted pornography.
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After an uproar from parents nationwide, Snapchat has already decided to pull the pornographic channel.
Faithwire wrote on May 23,
Last week, Snapchat introduced a new channel in its “Discover” section called, “Cosmo After Dark.” And simply put, it is pornographic.
This is highly concerning, not least because huge numbers of teens use Snapchat to communicate with their friends. According to Cosmopolitan magazine, the new channel “is an X-rated weekly edition that goes live every Friday at 6 p.m. and is exclusively dedicated to all things hot and h*rny.
The worst part? There’s no option — for parents or anyone else — to switch it off.
This is a small reprieve from the constant bombardment of sexualized content on the internet, but a victory nonetheless.
In a post published by watchdog and educational organization Protect Young Eyes, Chris McKenna explained that the new feature brought huge concern.
“Cosmo After Dark seems to include a new, more pornographic level of sexualized content, even by Snapchat’s standards,” McKenna writes. “It’s for this reason that Protect Young Eyes is so concerned. Snapchat seems desperate. As a publicly traded company, making money is important. In the bloody waters of social media competition, it’s a feeding frenzy, and there are signs that Snapchat might not survive. Therefore, everything seems ok. They won’t say no to anyone.”
Only a few days after Mckenna’s blog post went viral, Snapchat decided to pull the pornographic channel from their platform, proving that our voices really do make a difference!
Mckenna wrote in an updated blog post about Snapchats decision to pull the channel stating:
You read that correctly, friends. We have confirmed the following statement from Snap, Inc. about the After Dark channel that launched on May 18:
Cosmopolitan has always been known for empowering women in all aspects of their lives. With a highly popular Snapchat Discover channel, Cosmo launched an age-gated product on the platform for adults over the age of 18, which it is discontinuing after a pilot edition.
Mckenna continued stating that the statement about Cosmopolitan was confirmed by a journalist.
“Protect Young Eyes broke the story about the Cosmo After Dark Discover Channel on May 20, in a blog post that was shared by thousands and read by millions. THAT is the power of technology being used in noble and productive ways! Thank you to everyone who took a moment to take action. The statement above was confirmed with Snap, Inc. by WSPA News 7 reporter Ben Hoover.”
ForEveryMom, a faith-based blog for Christian mothers, also reported on the Snapchat recall, praising both Protect Young Eyes and their followers for their advocacy work on shutting down “Cosmo After Dark.”
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Jenny Rapson, a contributor at ForEveryMom, also commended parents for using social media for good.
Rapson wrote:
I just want to say a HUGE thank you to Protect Young Eyes for alerting me to this, and for ALL the advocacy work they do. And parents, I want to say a HUGE thank you to YOU for sharing our posts. You guys straight up CRASHED PYE’s site last night, and you used social media for good to EFFECT CHANGE (twice in one week!!!!!)
She continued, thanking the readers and parents who brought attention to Snap about their concern for the platform. She pointed out that it is important to keep victories like this one in mind when feeling defeated. She urged parents to keep fighting for their kids and keep calling evil like it is.
Rapson wrote:
“I am legit in tears because I am so, so thankful that my voice was able to be a part of this. When things seem dark, when it seems like no one wants to listen or do anything to change the evil we fight in this world, I will remember these two victories this week, and I pray you will too. We owe it to our kids to KEEP FIGHTING, to keep calling out evil, and to keep using our voices to shine a light on TRUTH.”
She ended, reminding parents that writing and sharing their opinions do matter, “God has been so good to us this week to show us that we are NOT shouting into a void. Writing and sharing our opinions MATTER!”
Just like Rapson mentioned, this is important to keep in mind when you feel like you are making absolutely no headway with whatever battle you are fighting. It’s important to stand up for yourself, but even more importatn to stand up for your children. Keep up the good fight!