Instagram and TikTok – No End-to-End Encryption
It seems to be a week of unexpected (and positive) news. Firstly, Meta have decided to cease with their end-to-end encryption within Instagram DM’s (private messages) and TikTok have reported they will not be using E2EE at all within their messaging.
Although some may understandably be concerned about privacy issues, from a child safety perspective this is huge. E2EE, such as that used within WhatsApp means that no-one, including the company, can interpret or see what is being sent, which makes it a relatively safe haven for criminal activity. Additionally, known CSAM cannot be detected and therefore cannot be reported to law enforcement for investigation.
TikTok are not introducing E2EE at all, Instagram will cease within DM’s on 8th May this year.
Link: Meta pulling end-to-end encryption on Instagram DM’s.
Link: TikTok puts child safety before privacy.
WhatsApp Now Allows Under 13’s
WhatsApp has been a significant concern for many schools, particularly chat groups where predominantly low level issues suddenly escalate. Last week, in another completely unexpected move, WhatsApp announced that children under 13 can now use WhatsApp via ‘Parent-Managed Accounts’.
Essentially these are accounts set up by the parent on the child’s device, but managed from the parents device. As well as no access to AI within WhatsApp and no ads there are parent management features which include:
- Contact management – parents can choose who can contact their child and which chat groups they can join. Children cannot join groups without parents approval. Messages from unknown contacts are sent to the parent first for approval.
- Activity notifications – parents can view their child’s activity such as when a child adds a new contact or if disappearing messages are turned on. Parents will also be notified if their child blocks or reports a contact.
Link – Introducing parent-managed accounts on WhatsApp.
Link – How to set up a parent-managed account.
Identity Fraud
From their earliest years in education, children are taught to be careful about what they share online and who with. This simple message is for a multitude of different reasons and it isn’t important just for children, it’s equally important for older students who may be getting bank accounts, debit cards, student loans etc. and it’s just as important for adults too. A lot of my lessons with older students are about online security and they’re always met with interest, not because of me, but because they know it’s something that can affect them personally.
Last week, Cifas (fraud prevention service) reported that more than 444,000 cases of fraud were reported in 2025, the highest number ever recorded and up 6% on the previous year.
Although slightly down this year, identity fraud is the most prevalent fraud type reported. But on the whole fraud is increasing with criminals becoming a lot more organised and sophisticated about who they are targeting and how, increasingly using generative AI to personalise targeting.
As criminals adapt, so too must we, and it’s really important that the scale and methods used by criminals are discussed with older students so that they can understand how to protect themselves. To help with this I have linked the latest Cifas report below which will give you some useful information to share with students.
Link: Identity theft is the most prevalent fraud – Cifas Fraudscape 2026 report.
Results About You
Related to the update above, Results About You is a free service provided by Google which allows you to use Google to search for information about you, and ask for it to be taken down.
Google is continually scraping the public internet, harvesting information so that when you carry out a search they can deliver the results quickly. This means that there is a good likelihood that they have scraped information about you: perhaps your address, phone number etc.
The tool is quite limited, but it’s free to use and I’m sure some people will find it useful. I have included a link to a BBC article below which explains the tool in a little more depth, the article includes a link to the Google ‘Results About You’ tool.
Link: Google Results About You Tool.
For Parents – What is LooksMaxxing?
With the concerns of toxic masculinity and misogynistic attitudes increasing, parents should be aware of related behaviours.
Looksmaxxing isn’t specifically related to misogynistic attitudes, but it can be related to masculinity, where young people are influenced to be ‘more masculine’ by being fitter and having bigger muscles. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, plenty of young people refer to looksmaxxing as leading a good lifestyle and being healthy (known as softmaxxing), but there can be other sides to this as well such as taking steroids or cosmetic surgery (known as hardmaxxing). There can also be mental health concerns such as social comparison, anxiety and self-esteem.
Internet Matters have created a really good guide about LooksMaxxing for parents including what it is, why it’s so popular, risks and signs for parents to look out for.
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