Google has banned a kids’ app from its Play store after parents heard a character threaten to knife children.
The app, based on the Nickelodeon show ‘Blaze And The Monster Machines’, is disguised to look like an official product where you can “call” the characters.
One mum, Katisha Long, from Gloucester, was horrified by what she heard on the app and shared it on Facebook on 22 January.
The voice on the app starts off normal: “Hi kids, I’m your new friend! You see, I want to play with you kiddo. Maybe we could perform some fun games together.”
However it then takes a sinister turn: ”You look afraid, is it this knife in my hands? Making you a little nervous? This knife is going to improve your look when it’s sticking right out of you.”
Long wrote on the Facebook post: “Seen a video being shared about on Facebook about a kids app on play store called ‘Call Blaze And The Monster Machines 2018’ thought it was fake, turns out it wasn’t.
“They obviously don’t check the apps before they allow them on the Play store.
“There are plenty of parents out there that just let their kids download random stuff and don’t check it before. This is a perfect example.”
One mum commented: “I’m so happy you shared this, I nearly downloaded that for [my son] it’s absolutely vile I would report it.”
Another wrote: “This is just wrong, disgusting. We need to make parents aware of this.”
Google has now suspended the app from Google Play.
A Google spokesman told HuffPost UK: “We have a set of policies designed to provide a great experience for users and developers and we act quickly to remove apps from Google Play that violate those policies.”
A Nickelodeon representative said, according to The Sun: “We were alerted to the illicit ‘Blaze And The Monsters Machines’ app yesterday along with a range of other content from the same individual. The safety of kids and families are of paramount importance to us.
“Nickelodeon worked as a matter of urgency with Google Play to have all the illegal apps removed. They removed all of the offending content immediately yesterday afternoon”.