UK to force Apple and Google to block explicit images on children’s smartphones Source: The Guardian

 

UK legislation which aims to force Apple and Google to block explicit images on children’s smartphones will be published after talks failed to produce a resolution via dialogue.

The legislation commitment puts ministers on a collision course with two of the biggest players in Silicon Valley, months after the government announced a social media ban for under-16s.

This position was reached after Apple and Google failed to reach a rsolution after a three month period and government legislation will be introduced to parliament  in the coming months.

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Experts warn of rise in sadistic online exploitation of vulnerable children Source: The Guardian

 

 

This report from The Guardian newspaper cites evidence of predators coercing children into producing sexual photos and videos of themselves have surged globally in the past year. This phenomenon is referred to “sadistic online exploitation”.

This issue has been reported previously focussed on the creation of sexual material which is then used to exploit young people who share sexual images of themselves. This practice  extends this to promoting self harming or even suicide. Other disgusting demands include forcing children to cut themselves, eat their own vomit, drink urine, die by suicide, or harm other children and pets in their homes. Some groups also engage in mass casualty planning, doxing and cyber-harassment.

With the high level of scrutiny and changes to the Law will have an effect but these perpetrators will almost certainly be looking at more devious ways to reaach their vulnerable targets.

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Six families sue TikTok after their kids die trying viral ‘choking challenge’ Source: The Independant

  

 

 

This story is incredibly sad. Young people given a challenge that to some might sound the sort of thing any kid might try. 'Choke yourself for as long as you can'. Six families have lost their children in this way as they blacked out and never recovered.
 
Six families have sued TikTok who hosted the 'Blackout Challenge on their platform. One family from the USA and five others from the UK are leading the legal action. The mother of one UK teenager has led a campaign to force social media platforms to release data of a child's social media activity in the event of a child’s death but the access to that data has been denied by the companies citing privacy laws that prevent them releasing the information. They also have stated that the data is deleted after a short period and is no longer available to clarify just what the children we actually watching. 
 
Ellen Roome has led the campaign in the UK for 'Joules Law' , named after he son, which would require social media companies to retain data for set period which can be accessed by parents and law enforcement.
 
This is one more reason why monitoring what your child is accessing with their agreement is so important. Adults can make judgements about such challenges which might elude young people and by building a digital trust relationship through monitoring could have saved some of these families from such awful consequences.

 

Read the full story here 

 

 

Story:Dangerous & extremely troubled’ paedo, 18, who told girl, 14, to self-harm and carve his name into her skin is jailed Source: The Sun

 

A particularly harrowing story of a young girl being groomed by another teenager.  

The perpertator openly referred to himself as a paedophile online and he started grooming the victim, a 14 year old girl. He demanded he to behave in innapproriate ways, encouraged self harming and played on her easting disorder to make her life a misery.

The 18 year old began the abuse in September of 2024 and used  Discord, Telegram, and WhatsApp to target the vulnerable child.

Read the full story here.