TikTok have announced new features for young people and families
- TikTok have announced improvements to their screen time tool with additional custom options.
- They are also introducing new default settings for ‘teen’ accounts and expanding Family Pairing to include more parental controls.
- Over the coming weeks, every account belonging to a user under the age of 18 will automatically adhere to a 60-minute daily screen time limit.
- If the 60 minute limit is reached, younger users will have to enter a passcode to continue to watch, promoting a more active decision making processes.
- If users opt out of the 60 minute default, they will be prompted to set a daily screen limit if they exceed 100 minutes a day on the platform.
- Users will get a weekly inbox notification with a recap of their screen time.
- Caregivers will now be able to use Family Pairing to customise daily screen time limits for their young person which can be monitored on a new Screen time dashboard.
- Parents will also be able to set a schedule to mute notifications for their young person.
- For more on this story, please visit TikTok’s website.
Snapchat will now let you pause your Snap Streaks
- Snapchat have announced that they are testing the ability to pause snap streaks.
- A streak is when you send a snapchat message to your friend at least once every 24 hours.
- Snap streaks are important to a lot of Snapchat users, so being able to pause and not worry about breaking them if they don’t have access to the app will decrease stress.
- The platform have said that users will have “the option to add more Streak Restores right from the app”.
- For more on this story, please visit the Tech Crunch website.
Online child sex abuse crimes rise 55 percent in Gwent
- A NSPCC investigation highlighted that Gwent police have recorded a 55% increase in online child sex abuse crimes over five years.
- They warned that unregulated social media was fuelling the rise.
- Snapchat was found to be used in the majority of cases (43%) with Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp being flagged in a third of instances.
- Concerningly the NSPCC also noted that virtual reality headsets are being recorded in child sexual abuse crimes.
- The NSPCC have said tech bosses are failing to stop their sites being used by offenders to commit crimes including sharing and organising child sexual abuse.
- Therefore, the NSPCC have called for the government to introduce a child safety advocate as part of the Online Safety Bill to help give children a voice and make them feel supported.
- For the fully story, please visit the South Wales Argus website.
Safe kits created to support people suffering from mental illness
- Self-harm kits originally developed by ‘Every Life Matters’ in Cumbria have been adopted by ‘Lancashire Mind’ to help young people suffering from mental illness.
- The kits contain information and resources about self-harm including recognised self-management tools and signposting to support.
- A suicide prevention lead for Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care highlighted that COVID-19 created immense changes in children and young people’s lives, impacting their mental health.
- Nationally 54% of 11–16-year-olds have mental health problems and lockdown was said to have made their lives worse.
- The kits were developed to encourage those to connect with someone who can start their support process however they are not to replace higher level treatment.
- For the full story, please visit the Yahoo website.
