Daily Safeguarding Update

Calls to Online Child Sex Abuse Watchdog up 45% in September

A hotline for reporting suspected child abuse material online had a record month in September, with calls increasing by 45%, driven by the shift to working from home and more time spent online, an internet watchdog has said
The UK-based Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), which identifies child sexual abuse content online, said it processed 15,258 reports from the public in September 2020, a record for the charity and up from 10,514 in September 2019
Analysts at the IWF’s hotline assess the reports so that criminal material can be quickly removed from the internet
In 2020, up to September the IWF processed a total of 230,520 reports, including tip-offs from members of the public, the police and internet providers. In the whole of 2019, itself a record year, IWF analysts processed 260,400 reports
The IWF’s hotline director, Chris Hughes, said: “More people spending longer at home, and more people being more active online may mean more people are spotting criminal content and calling it out”

Eating disorder charities have issued a warning about a “harmful” diet app that had been promoted on the Apple App Store to over-12s
Carrot Fit aims “to transform your flabby carcass into a Grade A specimen of the human race” using encouragement in the form of light-hearted abuse
It said it had helped thousands of users meet their health goals
But critics said that the app was irresponsible and could trigger eating disorders
Since the concerns were brought to its attention, Apple has raised the age recommendation on the app’s page to over-17s
“The way they are addressing weight is inappropriate and scary. It’s not a healthy body image and it’s irresponsible,” said Gemma Oaten, manager of eating disorder charity Seed. She called for the app to be banned

Spotify is facing criticism from anti-misinformation groups and its own staff over the appearance of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on the Joe Rogan show
Rogan’s hugely popular podcast signed an exclusivity deal with Spotify earlier this year for $100m (£77m)
But Spotify staff have reportedly expressed concerns internally about the appearance of Alex Jones as a guest
Spotify banned Alex Jones’ own podcast two years ago over hate speech
Campaigners are concerned that Jones was given the opportunity to promote inaccurate information about the pandemic to such a large audience

Scottish wrestling promoters are calling for coaches to be regulated following a series of allegations of sexual abuse within the industry
Professional wrestling is self-regulated, which means anyone can set up their own training school, or promotion and put on shows
The #SpeakingOut campaign has led to a number of female wrestlers reporting abuse and misogyny in the industry
Some promoters have introduced their own safeguarding policies
Glasgow-based wrestling promoters Fierce Females have taken action to ensure that anyone working with them is safe to do so