Now broadcasting live - from your daughter's bedroom - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

A popular online service now allows teens to broadcast themselves to a live audience anywhere, anytime. YouNow is promoted as safe and fun. But an Eyewitness News investigation shows some children are using the service to broadcast disturbing and illegal behavior, and police worry it is a breeding ground for child exploitation.

It's the weekend, and 15-year-old Katie Deak has invited over some friends.

You can't see them. But they're there. Lots of them.

191 people. 

“Hi Ricky! Hi Danny! Hi Mikala! How's it going, guys? How's everybody doing?” she asks.

For more than an hour, they watch Katie talk, dance and adjust her long, blonde hair.

“I love you guys,” Katie tells the crowd, which has grown to 207 in the past five minutes. “Thanks so much for watching.”

On some nights, Katie has as many as 650 people hanging out in her bedroom -- or in her little brother's bedroom if hers is too messy – as she tries to entertain her audience and answer their questions.

“Are you single?” and “How old are you?” ask two of the onlookers.

“Yes, I'm single and I'm 15, almost 16,” Katie replies. 

A guy named Oliver then tells the teenager she is gorgeous.

“Awww, thank you!” she replies, offering more gratitude by moving her fingers into the shape of a heart, then breaking into dance.

A few minutes later, Katie clicks a button on her iPad and her curious fans – now 271 of them – instantly disappear.

It is a scene now playing out thousands of times each day in teenagers' bedrooms all over the world.

Welcome to the world of YouNow.

It's a free service that allows adolescents to live broadcast what they're doing -- anywhere, anytime -- from a computer, tablet or smart phone. 

YouNow has been around for a few years, but it's just recently exploded on the social media scene for millions of teens from Sacramento and Saudi Arabia to Green Bay and Great Britain.

“YouNow is a global platform for self-expression where anyone can communicate and broadcast live from wherever they are,” company CEO Adi Sideman explained to WTHR.

He describes YouNow as an exciting, fun and safe way for adolescents to connect with one another in the rapidly-growing medium of live broadcasting. 

But 13 Investigates discovered the popular meeting place for kids has a much darker side that most parents don't know about. And police say the service puts millions of kids at a hidden and increased risk of exploitation and danger. 

How it works

Once reserved for TV stations and cable networks with million-dollar broadcasting equipment, the ability to broadcast live video is now a reality for anyone with access to an internet-connected device.

“We are now at a time when technology enables it, and consumers and the culture are demanding it,” said Sideman, speaking from his office in New York City.

YouNow's concept is simple. Teenagers can log on to the YouNow website or mobile app in a matter of seconds, providing instant access to the live broadcasts of millions of users. At the same time, teens can also choose to go live themselves, showing the world what they are doing.

At any given moment on YouNow, you might find users dancing, singing, playing the guitar, having a slumber party, sleeping, listening to a school lecture, driving, painting a picture, playing video games, getting a haircut, playing truth or dare, eating lunch, blow drying their hair and talking about a cheating boyfriend. Like watching TV, you can change the channel any time, quickly moving from one live broadcast to another until you find a broadcaster who catches your interest. 

And during each live session, audience members can send real-time live messages, enabling them to interact directly with broadcasters. They can also send “gifts” that appear as sticker-like icons to show approval to specific broadcasters or to gain their attention.

Katie says the feedback is her favorite part of YouNow, and what keeps her coming back for more live broadcasts. 

“It is the attention,” she said. “You get people on there saying 'Oh, I want to watch you' and 'Oh, you're so pretty' or ‘You're a really funny person.'  It feels really good. It's helped me be more confident with who I am.”

In less than a year, Katie has attracted more than 22,000 fans who watch her live broadcasts. She isn't sure where they all came from.

“It just added up so quickly. Next thing I know I had 15,000, then 20,000, and I was like 'Why are all these people watching me?' I don't know what I did. I was just sitting here in front of a camera talking,” Katie said, adding that she talks about “anything and everything” that interests her audience.

She is not alone. 

YouNow reports 100 million user sessions each month.

“It's just creepy”

Each of those users must agree to abide by the company's rules, which prohibit threats, bullying, nudity, sexual activity, drug use and underage alcohol use during broadcasts. Kids under 13 are not supposed to be on YouNow at all, and if they are caught, they are kicked off the network.

Sideman says his company monitors live broadcasts round the clock to detect conduct violations and to remove users who break the rules.

“We have dozens of adult moderators and then we have hundreds of volunteer ambassadors on the system,” said the YouNow CEO.  “We also have the community itself where any user is able to block and flag another user, so we take this very seriously… and we are very passionate and very active in keeping the system clean and welcoming.”

But spend just a few minutes browsing YouNow broadcasts, and you'll likely encounter multiple rule violations – some of them very serious – that would make any parent cringe.

13 Investigates observed young YouNow users engaged in the following behavior:

•    Overt bullying, threats and racism

•    Drinking alcohol and using illegal drugs

•    Kids identified as young as nine years old live broadcasting in their bedrooms and at school while trying to hide it from parents and teachers

•    Children exposing themselves -- lifting their shirts, taking off their pants, even posing completely nude for their live online audience   

“I'm feeling really disgusted. This is not OK,” said Fishers teenager Annie Miller, browsing YouNow for the first time. “People are just live on there doing whatever they want to do. Some of the kids look like they're 8 or 10 [years old]. And why would you want someone to watch you for hours while you're sleeping? It's not cool. It's just creepy.”

Child psychologists and law enforcement officials are concerned about the YouNow images observed by Eyewitness News, and they believe many adolescents are not able to comprehend the consequences of live broadcasting.

“Once it's out there on the internet, you can't take it back,” said Adam Allman, a licensed mental health counselor at St. Vincent's Stress Center in Indianapolis. Allman has specialized in adolescent mental health issues for almost 20 years, and he believes YouNow targets teens in a place where they are most vulnerable.

“There's a lot of hurting kids out there looking for attention and this is a way to fulfill that,” Allman said. “It becomes almost like a high where you're putting something out there and you get people to like you. And then what's the next step? You have to keep elevating the bar and finding new ways to be liked, and that can mean extending beyond your comfort zone and putting yourself out in way that's unsafe. So parents really have to be on alert about these types of social media. They need to be invasive into their children's lives to figure out what's going on.”

Parents caught by surprise

Many parents do not know YouNow and the ability for kids to broadcast themselves live even exists – and those who do often find out long after their kids have started using the service.

A Zionsville mother recently contacted WTHR after learning her 12-year-old daughter was in a YouNow broadcast recorded at a friend's slumber party.

“We were in shock,” said Ericka Pickell. “They're talking to total strangers live.” 

Katie Deak says her parents are very familiar with YouNow – especially after her mother unknowingly found herself in the middle of one of Katie's live broadcasts.

“I said 'Katie, what's going on?' She goes 'Well, I'm doing a live broadcast,'” said Laurie Deak, recalling the first time she discovered her daughter was live broadcasting from her bedroom.

“For me, that is a little creepy, but I do watch some of her broadcasts and, for the most part, she's appropriate,” said Katie's mom. “She's not wearing anything indecent, and she's not talking about anything indecent. People have made sexual comments to her on there, but she does a very nice job blowing those off. I trust her.”

Katie's father is not as comfortable with YouNow. In fact, he says the live broadcasting makes him feel very uneasy -- and it's not Katie he's worried about.

“I don't know who's out there watching my daughter … and that's what bothers me,” Katie's dad, Judson, told WTHR. “95-percent of what's on there is probably other kids who are probably fine, but it's that other 5-percent that really concerns me,” he said.

It should concern all parents, according to police.

“The danger is very, very real and the danger exists whether they know it or not,” said Steve Schafer, a computer forensics examiner with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. He helps track down online child predators -- predators who find their next victim by going to websites that feature children.

“That activity is going on, and it is going on everyday, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I see it,” Schafer explained. “Somebody can easily figure out where [these teens] are, who they are, how old they are, where they live, where they go to school, who their friends are, everything about them.”

At your front door

Steve Bockler, a professional private investigator with SBI Investigative Services, demonstrated for 13 Investigates just how simple it is to track down a teenager who is live broadcasting.

Browsing YouNow, he found a user who said she lives in Indiana.  Using the teenager's YouNow screen name, social media accounts and free internet search engines such as Google, he quickly led us to the girl's front door.

“In less than 15 minutes, we had a picture of her house on Google Earth, and we were able to match the curtains from the girl's curtains on YouNow to curtains that are actually showing on the picture on Google Earth,” Bockler explained.

He was also able to view the teen's full name; her birthdate; where she works and goes to school; the names of her parents, friends and dog; and lots of pictures and videos she has posted online.

WTHR contacted the girl's parents on the south side of Indianapolis. Her mother, who asked not to be identified, said she had never heard of YouNow and was not aware that her daughter had been live streaming from inside their home for the past seven months. After that conversation, the 16-year-old's latest archived broadcasts were removed from YouNow and the teenager has not live broadcast on the service since.

“The fact that these kids are sharing this information, they just don't realize at all what they're actually sharing,” Bockler said.

Keep in mind, he found all of that information using only free search tools on the internet -- meaning it does not take a private investigator to quickly track down the location of kids who are live broadcasting.

“I had no idea,” said Katie. “I think that's something people need to know.”

“Yeah, I'm not comfortable with that,” agreed her father. “Not comfortable at all.”

Taking action

So what does YouNow say about the safety and privacy concerns and the rule violations observed by 13 Investigates?

“My advice and the rule of thumb is: Don't do anything on the internet that you wouldn't do in real life,” said Sideman, who defends his company's safety and monitoring program.

“From the millions of users who are on YouNow every day, less than one tenth of a percent are users who need to be removed,” said YouNow's CEO.  13 Investigates did see several instances of the company abruptly stopping a live broadcast and suspending the user's access due to inappropriate behavior on the service.

Sideman nonetheless recommends all parents talk with their kids about live broadcasting websites because, with millions of live broadcasts each day, he admits it is impossible to catch all of the abuses.

“At the end of the day, it is the internet and things are going to happen,” he said. “If we know about them, we take immediate action and remove those users from the system. If we were able to do more faster, we would be doing it right now.”

In the meantime, parents and children should understand that visiting live broadcasting websites could mean getting a lot more exposure than you bargained for.

“You are behind a camera. You don't see anyone who's really watching you and because you're in a familiar setting and you don't know who's there, it's easy to still feel comfortable,” said Katie. “In the back of mind, I tell myself to be careful.”

“The problem is, most kids, they don't look past that little camera and, to them, it's just a camera – not a lot of unknown people looking in and some of them recording what's happening on their own computer,” said cyber investigator Schafer. “I don't know they truly understand the depth of that and how far reaching that can be.”

Schafer suggests parents implement an open door policy with kids who have access to the internet.  “There is absolutely no reason a child should have 100% privacy when they're using the internet. If the internet is on, their door should be open,” he said.

Allman agrees.

“Parents really need to try to make sure their kids aren't behind closed doors on the internet because they can really do a lot of damage to themselves that they cannot take back,” said the adolescent mental health counselor.

YouNow told WTHR it is very willing to work with concerned parents.

“We ask parents to contact us if there is any issue, and we cooperate and make sure we remove accounts,” Sideman explained. “So any parent who is watching right now, if you are worried about your son or daughter being on YouNow, please contact us and we would be happy to make sure that we remove the account.”

Creating a star

YouNow has thousands of loyal followers, who say the service has changed their lives – for the better.

They say it has helped them connect to other teens in a positive environment where they can feel free to be themselves.

Simon Britton of Brownsburg is one of those supporters.

The 15-year-old has been broadcasting on YouNow for exactly one year, and he has quickly achieved internet stardom with nearly 100,000 fans.

"I try to connect with my audience and I read their comments, and they find that enjoyable," Simon said. "Getting on there and seeing all the comments, complimenting me and saying I make them smile, that's the best part of it – making other people smile. I started doing it to make friends, and now I've met so many amazing people."

For some YouNowers, there's also another reward.

The company pays some of its top broadcasters, like Simon, who provide content and attract fans to the app and website. Simon receives about $1,500 per month because of the large number of fans – up to 3,000 – he draws for each of his frequent broadcast. It's also a way to get discovered. Simon's broadcasting attracted the attention of producers at BraveFest, who recently enlisted Simon to travel the country this summer as a host for their upcoming nationwide tour.

"I just returned from the tour in Arizona where I got on stage in front of 500 people," he said. "Before I started on YouNow, I couldn't have talked to a group of ten random people. It's really made me more social and more confident. My experience has been amazing."

Simon's parents, Rick and Lori, have been there from the first broadcast.

"It's new. It's different. I was hesitant at first. It was kind of creepy," said his mom. "So we watched his broadcasts. We keep it real. We keep it clean. We keep it family friendly. And we're in some of his broadcasts."

Her advice to other parents: if your kids are going to be on YouNow, be a part of the experience.

"Parents have to be involved. There's a lot of junk on the Internet. There are lot of opportunities for good and evil out there. This is one of those situations," she said. "Parents can't not be involved. Kids are going to find what they're looking for, so you need to be there to help them."

Read more stories from 13 Investigates here.