Grom Social Enterprises Announces May Release of Newly Designed COPPA-Compliant Grom Social App Featuring Enhanced Safety Measures for Parents and New Interface Brimming with Fun Just for Kids!

BOCA RATON, Fla., March 12, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Grom Social Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ: GROM), a leader in online safety for kids, today announced the early May launch of its highly-anticipated and completely redesigned COPPA-compliant (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act) social media app just for kids, Grom Social. The culmination of several months of redesigning its interface and sign-up process, the new Grom app places primary emphasis on several new features to further ensure the safety of its users while boasting fun to both engage kids and educate them about the growing importance of embracing digital safety habits at a young age. The new Grom app will debut in iOS beginning in early May, with the updated interface for Android users slated to premiere at a later date.

The updated Grom Social app comes with a brand-new look, feel, and experience with all the safety integrations today’s kids deserve and need. Existing users and their parents will migrate from the current experience to immediately enjoy Grom’s exciting new environment and interface. Leading the new safety features will be a new parent-child video verification process that ensures that parents and caregivers have granted consent to their child. Additionally, Grom’s new 3D avatar asset library allows kids to create their own profile avatar using hundreds of assets featuring a variety of complexions, hairstyles, clothing, accessories, animations, and more. The app’s new state-of-the-art camera allows users to create and post videos utilizing the latest in augmented reality (AR) technology.

When it comes to safety, Grom incorporates the latest advancements in online safety measures, ensuring compliance with COPPA regulations and providing parents with enhanced control and monitoring features. Despite the challenges posed by the evolving digital landscape, Grom remains dedicated to creating a safe and enjoyable online environment for children worldwide. Parents can have full confidence in their child’s digital experience with Grom’s parent monitoring features, through which parents will have full control of their child’s profile, and view every post, comment, message, and friend. Additionally, parents can limit their child’s screen time and will be promptly notified if their child has violated the app’s rules on digital citizenship.

Grom Social was created by kids, for kids, namely by the Marks Family of Florida. In 2012, led by then-11-year-old Zach Marks, the Marks siblings set out to create a digital hub where kids could remain safe while availing themselves to the fun of online media. Now a young man, Zach created the prototype, and inspiration, for Grom Social when his Facebook account was deleted by his parents once they learned he signed up without their knowledge or consent. Children under 13 are legally barred from social media without a parent’s permission to protect them from content intended for older consumers and prevent the use or sale of their data. Grom never sells its user’s data.

Grom Social, which began as a website in 2012, and was upconverted to a mobile app in 2018, is designed to help parents teach their kids about safe social media in a fully secure environment exclusively for kids under 13. Grom offers a fun, escapist atmosphere where kids can be kids and also access short-form content through the app’s Digital Citizenship Licensing (DCL) course (coming later this year), in which they get interactive lessons on the importance of digital safety and navigating online environments. Today, Grom Social serves as the model social media for kids 13 and in 2016, inspired Grom Social Enterprises to launch Grom Educational Services, which helps protect kids when in online learning environments and on school-issued devices through its NetSpective web filter solution.

“Grom Social is so elated to bring kids a brand new Grom, a fun, safe social media app they can truly call their own,” explains Paul Ward, former Nickelodeon executive who joined as Grom Social’s president in 2021. “Grom Social has always put kids’ safety as our number one priority and we applaud all of the efforts taking place in Washington, DC, and state capitals everywhere to join us and the parents of our users to help keep kids safe. Social media is here to stay and when kids are ready for “big social”, Grom is working hard to give kids the training wheels they need to grow into responsible, young adults.”

“The new Grom app is better positioned than ever to deliver on our initial promise of giving kids a fun app that they can call their own while giving parents much-needed peace of mind,” explains Darren Marks, CEO of Grom Social Enterprises Inc. “Social media is here to stay and Grom is thrilled to help today’s kids and their families navigate and meet the challenges presented by big social, and we are confident that these new features are a huge step in capturing the imagination of kids everywhere.”

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