PNK is a social networking platform where users swipe to find new similarly-aged friends all around the world.
Learn what the app does to keep young people safe on their platform.
PNK is a social discovery app designed to help users make new friends from around the world. This is done through a swiping mechanism, where users are shown the profiles of other users, and can swipe left or right based on whether or not they would like to chat with the person.
Separate communities exist for those aged 13-18 and those aged 18 and over. This helps teens stay safe on the app as they will not be interacting with adults.
PNK is available in the USA, Australia, Canada and the UK.
The Apple Store labels PNK as 12+ while Google Play labels it as Parental Guidance. However, it’s important to explore the Terms of Service of any app to check age minimum requirements.
PNK’s Terms of Service requires a minimum age of 13 to use the platform. Those under 18 must also get the consent of their parent or carer to use the service.
When you download and open the PNK app, users must create an account using an existing Google account or Apple ID. Which login you need depends on whether you have an Android or iOS device.
Next, PNK requires users to enter their birthday. Users must then take a photo of themselves with the PNK app. An AI tool then processes their live image to verify age and reaffirm minimum age requirements.
If a user does not pass this primary age-assurance process, they must provide a picture of government-issued ID to verify their age. PNK accepts a driver’s licence or a passport for this. Once verification is complete, PNK will delete the photo of a user’s ID for security reasons.
To find friends on PNK, users swipe through others’ profiles. You swipe left if you don’t want to talk to the person or right if you do. These profiles can come from people all over the world, and you can set the age range for profiles you would like to see.
However, users aged 17 and under will not be able to see the profiles of those 18 and over, and vice-versa.
Once a user swipes positively on a profile, and the other person does the same, they can message each other.
Like all social media platforms, users face the risks of potential harm while using the PNK app.
Enabling location on PNK will allow users to find friends nearby. However, the app encourages users to seek out friends to message from all over the world, not just locally. It does not suggest meeting outside of the app in any way.
Moreover, PNK automatically disables location-sharing for users under 18 years of age. This reduces the potential risks that come from teens sharing their location with strangers online.
As with all social media, there is a chance of being exposed to inappropriate content on PNK. This can come from other users trying to say or share adult content.
However, this goes against PNK’s community guidelines, which prohibits content involving partial or full nudity and anything that is pornographic, sexual or suggestive in any way. Any content that contains hate speech, violence or drugs also violates these guidelines.
Additionally, PNK uses AI to monitor the app 24/7. The AI monitors all images and text posted on the platform to make sure users are following the rules.
Trained human moderators also review content and will remove anything they deem inappropriate.
Inappropriate contact like grooming rarely starts with overtly sexual language and can seem like a normal friendship at first. Groomers might first try to develop a close friendship with a young person. Then, they might ask that child to communicate on a different platform to avoid PNK’s multi-layered moderation.
In many cases, groomers are adults targeting children, which is unlikely on PNK. However, grooming and exploitation can happen between children too. So, it’s important to talk with children about what unhealthy behaviours look like.
PNK encourages users to use the app’s built-in reporting feature to flag any such behaviour. Users can also block anyone who makes them feel unsafe.
PNK is free to use, but it does offer paid options: PNK Plus and PNK Premium.
These paid versions give users access to features otherwise limited in the free version. For example, in the standard version of the app, users can send people messages and add them, but users won’t see the message or user unless they also swipe right on them.
Additionally, users might receive notifications about how many people have messaged or added them. This can lead to feelings of FOMO (the Fear Of Missing Out), which might encourage teens to purchase these upgrades.
To keep teens safe, it’s important to talk with them about online money management to prevent any impulse purchases on premium features.
Users can choose a weekly upgrade to PNK Plus for £7.49/week. Or they can choose £10.49 for a full month or £13.99 for 3 months.
PNK Plus lets users:
Users can choose a weekly upgrade to PNK Premium for £10.49/week, £13.99/month or £18.99 for 3 months.
PNK Premium lets users:
PNK states that creating a safe platform for teens was a priority when designing the app. They have aimed to achieve this goal by implementing various safety features.
New users must provide their birthday and a recent picture. If the person in the picture does not look the same age as the birth date given, the user must provide a photo of an official ID, such as a driving licence or passport.
If a child who is underage attempts to sign up for PNK, they receive a message that says ‘You can’t use PNK’.
While they can attempt to use a fake birthday to appear older, they will still need to verify their age through their profile photo or ID. Because of this, it is unlikely that an underage person will be able to join PNK.
This age verification process also reduces the risk of adults pretending they are younger to interact with teens.
Users can block and report others who post hateful, sexual or otherwise inappropriate content that goes against PNK’s community guidelines.
When reporting, users can also attach evidence such as screenshots or video recordings. This can help content moderators assess and resolve reported issues more quickly and accurately. Users can then see all accounts they have blocked in the safety and privacy section of the app.
PNK has a multi-layered safety system that combines technology, like AI, and trained human moderators to detect, flag and remove harmful content.
The moderators monitor PNK 24/7 for harmful language or inappropriate images and remove or ban any accounts that post content which goes against the community guidelines.
However, parents and carers should still supervise their teens’ use of PNK to help them stay safe.
If your child is interested in setting up a PNK account, these actions can help keep them safe while using the platform.
Set privacy controls: When setting up your teen’s account, be sure to set privacy settings to help them stay safe while using PNK. Turn off location and tracking settings to minimise the likelihood of someone knowing their real location.
Have regular conversations: Discuss your child’s activity on the PNK app regularly to help you stay on top of potential issues and risks they might face. Ask about any friends they have through the app, or any interesting content they have seen recently. This can help you learn about their activity without it feeling like an interrogation. Taking interest in their digital lives will also help them feel more confident about opening up if something goes wrong.
Discuss difficult topics: Speak with your child about hard subjects such as grooming, child-on-child abuse and cyberbullying. While these might be uncomfortable issues to address, it can help children recognise and prevent potential harm.
Use the app yourself: Set up your own PNK account to familiarise yourself with the kind of content that is on the app. Remember that your experience as an adult differ from theirs as a minor. However, you can still learn how the app works and how to use the existing safety features.
Set screen time limits: Swiping systems can persuade users to continue using an app if limits aren’t in place. Agree on screen time limits to help your teen balance their screen time while using PNK.
