Snapchat offers creators $1 million a day for viral videos in a new feature to compete with  TikTok 

  • Messaging app Snapchat is offering a share of $1m (£750,000) to its users every day as it tries to compete with TikTok on viral videos
  • Its new Spotlight feature will use an algorithm to recommend “the most engaging” posts to watch based on what a user is interested in
  • Snapchat says the feature will include people with “private, personal accounts” as well as its biggest stars
  • The $1m-a-day payment would run until at least the end of the year, but if successful it could potentially continue into 2021, the company said
  • Snapchat has not, however, said how many people the $1m a day will be split between, or what the maximum individual earnings might be
  • We will be releasing more information on Snapchat’s new Spotlight feature very soon

Smart doorbells ‘easy target for hackers’ 

  • Major security flaws in popular smart doorbells are putting consumers at risk of being targeted by hackers inside their homes, according to Which.
  • The consumer group says devices being sold on online marketplaces, could easily be hacked or switched off by criminals
  • It is asking the government for new legislation to safeguard consumers
  • Amazon has removed at least seven product listings in response to the findings
  • The watchdog tested 11 devices that were purchased from popular online marketplaces in the UK. Brands included Qihoo, Ctronics and Victure
  • It found that among the most common flaws were weak password policies and a lack of data encryption

Safeguarding training was available at school where teacher sexually abused pupils 

  • Following our report yesterday, of sexual abuse of pupils at a school in Weston-super-Mare, the Head of Children’s Services at North Somerset has said that safeguarding training was available to staff at the  school where a teacher abused pupils
  • Sheila Smith said the key issue at Hillside First School was a barrier to staff reporting concerns
  • Nigel Leat was jailed indefinitely in 2011 after admitting 36 offences including attempted rape of a child
  • The response of the council is being examined as part of The  Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA)
  • Ms. Smith, Director of Children’s Services, apologised on behalf of North Somerset Council for the abuse perpetrated by Leat and said she recognised the “significant damage” this caused children and their families
  • She added safeguarding remained an “absolute priority” for the council

Children in mental health hospitals are having rights violated warns charity 

  • Children being treated in hospital for mental health problems are at risk of serious rights violations with “staggering numbers” still being placed on adult wards and subject to harmful restraint, seclusion and segregation, a study has found
  • A report by children’s rights charity Article 39, which was part of a three-year project funded by BBC’s Children in Need, found that many children are in mental health hospitals as “informal patients” and thereby “consent”
  • Children are often kept locked up and do not understand their rights and fear being “sectioned” if they try to leave
  • Article 39 said children held on an informal basis, making up around two-thirds of the 3,500 children placed in mental health inpatient care each year, are denied the legal safeguards provided to children who are formally detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 – such as the right to an independent mental health advocate and to be given information about their rights