Discord has a child safety issue
- A new report has revealed alarming statistics about Discord’s issues with child safety.
- Over the course of six years, NBC News identified 35 cases of adults being prosecuted on charges of “kidnapping, grooming or sexual assault” that allegedly involved communication via Discord.
- Reports also discovered 165 more cases including four crime rings, in which adults were prosecuted for sharing child sexual abuse materials (CSAM) through the platform or using it to extort children into sending images of themselves.
- Earlier this year the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) issued a statement that noted CSAM links were identified and reported but still available on Discord servers “over two weeks later”.
- In a recent transparency report, Discord said its investment in child safety “has never been more robust”, however, the systems currently cannot detect all CSAM.
- For more, please visit Engadget’s website.
Meta announces community forums to discuss principles and parameters of AI development
- Meta will host a range of public sessions designed to gather feedback on principles that people want to see reflected in new AI technologies.
- The company says that its new Community Forum on Generative AI will be held in consultation with Stanford Deliberative Democracy Lab and the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT).
- Participants will be able to access educational materials to help them learn more about concepts discussed, ask questions about safety, behavioural impacts.
- This is particularly relevant as the company recently announced lowering the age restriction on Meta Quest accounts to 10 years old, down from 13, which is said to roll out later this year.
- For more, please visit the Social Media Today website.
Online Safety Bill: Bereaved parents win fight for information
- The government has agreed to give coroners and bereaved families new power to access information held by tech companies about their loved one.
- The pledge came in a House of Lords debate on the Online Safety Bill.
- Ian Russell, father of Molly Russell who died by suicide after viewing harmful content online, said it was “really important”.
- Olly Stephens was fatally stabbed over a social media dispute and his father has said, “It’s too late for Olly’s generation – they’ve seen some horrific things through their mobile phones – there is no duty of care on social media at the moment…This is about the next generation who are being damaged in so many ways.”.
- Read the following stories for more: Olly Stephens: Murdered boy’s parents welcome online bill amendment and Online Safety Bill: Bereaved parents win fight for information.
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Child Safety: Inconsistencies in safeguarding – review
- The Care Inspectorate has said there are inconsistencies in child safeguarding in Wales.
- This comes from Care Inspectorate Wales’ interim review into child protection.
- There were 32 reviews in progress in May about children who died or had been seriously injured as a result of abuse or neglect.
- The report said the understanding and assessments of a child at risk of experiencing significant harm was mostly good but not “consistently understood between councils and other agencies”.
- For more, go to the BBC’s website.
