New Free Resource – Digital Deception
The PSHE Association have released a brand new resource for KS2-4 called Digital Deception: Understanding Deepfakes. This is a hugely important area, the large majority of deepfakes are targeted against women and girls, therefore a key priority.
You need an account to download the resources (you can create a free account if you don’t already have one), I’ve had a quick peek and they look really good.
Download the Digital Deception: Understanding Deepfakes resource.
New Report – The Com
The Com is an area I briefly covered a couple of months ago, it is a a decentralised, global online ecosystem where offenders (who are aged 11+) weaponise loneliness to recruit vulnerable children and young adults into extreme harmful activities.
A new report called ‘Weaponised Loneliness’ has come out from Revolver and the Molly Rose Foundation and it makes for an interesting if horrifying read. Due to email filters I can’t go into specifics, but if you are in a safeguarding role I would strongly recommend you take a look at this report. Please note, the very nature of the topic can make this hard to read so make sure you are in the right frame of mind.
Read the Weaponised Loneliness report.
You can also read a summary of the report on the Sky website HERE.
Man Targeting Male Students on WhatsApp
Police in Manchester have put out a warning about a man who has been targeting male students on WhatsApp. It appears that he has been added into a number of chat groups, and is then able to contact students individually.
Although this has been reported in Manchester, the reality is that children and young people can (and are being) targeted anywhere. There are no geographical boundaries when it comes to ‘online’.
This is a timely reminder to reiterate to all students that they should not admit people they don’t know into chat groups, this is an easy gateway for offenders who prey on curiosity and vulnerability.
For more information, read the BBC article: Warning over man targeting schoolboys on WhatsApp.
Interesting New Law in the UAE – Legal Requirements on Parents
This one really piqued my interest, a new law came into effect on 1st Jan in the UAE which now places a legal requirement on parents, caregivers and others to protect children. Called the Child Digital Safety law there are specific requirements and clear responsibilities including:
- Supervising online activities.
- Using age-appropriate digital platforms.
- Not allowing children to use other people’s accounts.
- Protecting children from exploitation.
- and more.
Read a summary of the UAE Child Digital Safety law.
For Parents – Google Family Link
For children with Android devices, Google Family Link is a great way for parents to set restrictions. Last week Internet Matters released a brand new YouTube video showing how to set up Google Family Link to customise content and screen time restrictions:
Click to Set Up Google Family Link
