Vinted blocks 'sickening' sexually explicit ads

Vinted blocks 'sickening' sexually explicit ads

52 minutes ago Share Save Shiona McCallum Senior Tech Reporter Share Save

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Online marketplace Vinted says it has removed sexually explicit adverts, after a mum reported seeing a video depicting what she believed to be a pornographic scene while browsing for clothes. Kirsty Hopley, 44, from Carlisle, said she was searching the app for a dressing gown when the ad popped up. She was sitting next to her teenage daughter at the time. Ms Hopley reported the content to Vinted and later contacted Ofcom.

She told BBC News the video, which started playing automatically, showed a "sickening" graphic and violent sexual encounter. The law and criminology teacher said she had installed content filters on her home internet and was shocked to see such material on the e-commerce platform. "I probably won't buy anything from there again, which is disappointing as I love Vinted," she said. "But I don't want to see content like that." The platform, which has no age restrictions, has recently faced scrutiny in France after reports that some sellers were using the site to direct users to adult content.

Kirsty Hopley Kirsty Hopley told the BBC the experience meant she would no longer allow her teenage daughters to use Vinted