It’s a site not a lot of adults know about — but it’s very popular with teens and kids. Now, law enforcement officials are warning parents about the site Ask.fm after the site has been linked to nearly a dozen teen suicides in Europe and at least one in the United States.
In Colorado, the Jefferson County District Attorney’s office said they’ve received more than 30 calls in the past three weeks from parents and teachers who are concerned about the site, KDVR reported.
The site is basically an answer and question site — users can sign up and then pose a question to the population or answer others’ questions. Users can remain anonymous — and that is where the problem comes in. According to KDVR, the site doesn’t remove offensive or threatening posts and question threads that are bullying are not shut down.
In September, Business Insider reported that Ask.fm plans to beef up security measures by adding a larger abuse report button and restrict the way anonymous users use the site. Those changes should be implemented by 2014, the site said.
