Yubo: Grooming Risks on a Live-Streaming App
This is a standing advisory: Yubo is a social live-streaming app, now 18+ only, whose core mechanic — going live and 'swiping' to make new connections — is built around meeting strangers rather than keeping up with existing friends.
Published: 2026-03-25 · Last updated: 2026-11-06
What Changed
This is a standing advisory: Yubo is a social live-streaming app, now 18+ only, whose core mechanic — going live and 'swiping' to make new connections — is built around meeting strangers rather than keeping up with existing friends. Yubo became an 18+ only app on 1 November 2025 and deactivated under-18 accounts, and it says every user verifies their age at sign-up with a live selfie video checked against the birthdate they entered, but child-safety organisations have repeatedly warned about grooming risks on platforms built around live-streaming and stranger connection, and no age-assurance system is fully reliable. The app can also surface a user's approximate location to others.
What to Review
- •Check whether Yubo is installed on your child's devices and talk honestly about why it concerns you: it is designed for meeting strangers.
Parent Actions
- 1Yubo is for adults only, so if your child has it, they are on an adult's account or have got past its age check: talk calmly about why, and help them find safer ways to socialise online.
- 2If they do use it, go through the privacy settings together — disable location sharing in particular — and agree what they will do if anyone asks them to move to another app, share images, or keep a conversation secret.
Full app guide
View the complete Yubo safety guide
This is practical educational content to support families. For case-specific concerns about a child's safety, contact the NSPCC helpline on 0808 800 5000 or your local safeguarding team.
Sources
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Last reviewed: 2026-11-06