KidsChat.net (previously ChildrensChat.net, the name was changed due to backlash on their website) has been an active website for the past 18 years. It advertises itself explicitly for children's usage, despite being littered with unmonitored predators.This website IS NOT safe for children. It is a website that, regardless of intention, grooms minors into the hands of pedophiles. 

The site makes it incredibly easy and almost safe to prey on young children online, with no verification of age, and no way of preventing a predator from making a brand new account immediately after any supposed ban. This makes it incredibly easy for anyone to lie about their age or who they are as many times as they please.

To report a pedophile, a child should upload a screenshot to a free image upload site, and send a report along with a link via email to the moderators, as there is no button to report individual users for abuse. There have also been instances where filing a report will result in a ban of the victim from the website.

The directions for reporting abuse are confusing, and complicated for a child learning how to use the internet. Chat logs are unmonitored (despite contradictory claims), and the moderators welcome advertisements clearly inappropriate for children on their site, as well.

They acknowledge the severe amount of pedophiles on their site, yet still choose to do nothing about it. After 18 years, the only change that has shifted is the ban of sending images in chat. It took 18 years.

The FAQ states their reasoning for not removing the site: "Shutting this website down will not stop another from opening up and all those bad guys from going there, perhaps with even worse security measures." Their FAQ also has many almost victim blaming responses to what seem like children looking for help from mods, or asking how they can report abuse, where photographic evidence, again, is necessary.

Examples:

• Included in a response to a child asking about sending screenshots in a report: "Please don't be silly  and try to mail us a bunch of screenshots. There is a chance it will never reach us."
• A child asks what to do if there is no mod to report abuse to: "Our moderators also have lives, so please do not expect one to be on every single second of the day."
• A child asks about the "bad people" in the chat rooms: "Safety is a two-way street. We can do our part but you must always do yours. Please follow the safety rules throughout the site."
• They also state in their FAQ that: "You cannot bring evidence from outside sources to make your case about having a person on our platform banned. Unfortunately there are also a lot of false reports and that sort of evidence would not be verifiable by our staff." Meaning if a child is catfished by a user from their site on another platform, it will not flag or ban said catfish, despite evidence. This was in response to a child reaching out about being groomed from their site. Not only that, the majority of these users are pedophiles and I highly doubt the existence of abundant false reports.

There are children in the FAQ asking why nothing has resulted in their reports. When you enter the Login page of the Chat, a profile of a grown man is displayed, hidden among other seemingly normal profiles, when it is supposedly not welcome to anyone over the age of 19.

This website IS NOT safe for children. It has taken them 18 years JUST to ban the sharing of photos. This website is a cesspool for predators to groom, harass, stalk, and prey on young children. Something has to be done about this, it should not be tolerated or ignored.