Daily Safeguarding Update

One-Third of Children in the UK have Heard Racist Remarks

Almost a third of children have heard racist comments at school, according to research by an anti-bullying campaign
The research was commissioned by The Diana Award, a youth charity named for the former Princess of Wales, and the Nationwide building society
A poll of 1,000 six to 15-year-olds found that while, overall, about 32% children had heard someone be racist at school, this figure rose to more than half – 52% – among 13-year-olds
The charity will hold a “big anti-bullying assembly” to be shown in primary school classrooms and homes on 28 September, which will involve celebrities including England defender Tyrone Mings and football manager Gareth Southgate
The findings came as children across the UK are settling back into an uncertain school year following an extended absence as a result of months of closures during the coronavirus outbreak. More than a third – 33% – said they were more worried than usual about returning to class

Twitter has opened an investigation after users discovered its picture-cropping algorithm sometimes prefers white faces to black ones
Users noticed when two photos – one of a black face the other of a white face – were in the same post, Twitter often showed only the white face on mobile
Twitter said it had tested for racial and gender bias during the algorithm’s development, but added “It’s clear that we’ve got more analysis to do”

Facebook has questioned its own future in Europe if it is forced to stop transferring users’ data to the US
The technology company warned that more than 410m people may lose access to its services after the Irish Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) suggested it would enforce a European Court of Justice decision that such transfers of data break EU law
“In the event that the applicant [Facebook] was subject to a complete suspension of the transfer of users’ data to the US, as appears to be what the DPC proposes, it is not clear to the applicant how, in those circumstances, it could continue to provide the Facebook and Instagram services in the EU,” wrote Yvonne Cunnane, Head of dData Protection at Facebook Ireland

A barrister has criticised Amazon for selling hats with the slogan “Black Lives Don’t Matter”, marketed as being elegant and a “nice present”
Alexandra Wilson, from Essex, said it was “honestly embarrassing” the company was selling the caps and questioned whether it had any checks in place
Amazon has since removed the hats, which were being sold by a third party
Last week the retailer faced criticism for selling T-shirts with the slogan “Let’s Make Down Syndrome Extinct”
Ms Wilson, 25, who has previously been the subject of racist abuse, said it was “really disappointing” it took some time for the hats to be taken down
She said she wanted to make sure the item was never sold again

Facebook is going to let people take more control over the images they own and where they end up
This is as part of an update to Facebook’s rights management platform, the company is starting to work with certain partners today to give them the power to claim ownership over images and then control where those images show up across the Facebook platform, including on Instagram
The goal is to eventually open this feature up to everyone, as it already does with music and video rights. The company didn’t give a timeline on when it hopes to open this up more broadly