• Reports of child abuse images online increased by almost 50% during lockdown, according to the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF).
• In the 11 weeks from 23 March, its hotline logged 44,809 reports of images compared with 29,698 last year.
• Chief executive Susie Hargreaves said the hugely increased number of people staying at home had led to increased police estimates of offenders online.
• The fastest-growing category of images being removed by the IWF in recent years has been those generated by children after grooming or coercion.

• The official Twitter accounts of many prominent US figures have been hacked in an apparent Bitcoin scam. Those affected include Elon Musk, Barrack Obama, and Bill Gates. 
• A Tweet from Bill Gate’s Account read “Everyone is asking me to give back, you send $1,000, I send you back $2,000”, encouraging followers to send money in return for more. 
• Twitter said it was a “coordinated” attack targeting its employees “with access to internal systems and tools”.It added that “significant steps” were taken to limit access to such internal systems and tools while the company’s investigation was ongoing.

• Internet-connected gadgets will have to come pre-set with a unique password, or require the owner to set one before use, as part of plans for a UK cyber-security law.
• Manufacturers could be forced to recall non-compliant products and may also be fined. The government is now seeking feedback from consumer groups and industry experts to shape its final legislation.
• Other proposals include a requirement that manufacturers state the minimum amount of time they will continue to provide security updates for a product after purchase.
• Digital infrastructure minister Matt Warman said that until the law was passed, households should ensure they had changed all internet-linked devices’ default passwords to “protect themselves from cyber-criminals”.

• A 29-year-old man has been found guilty of engaging in sexual communication with a child, making indecent Category B and C images of a child and distributing one category A image.
• The man approached who he thought was a 13-year-old girl in an online chat room, after which he convinced her to move to Whatsapp, an encrypted messaging service. 
• The girl was in fact an adult, who was part of a group that aimed to catch offenders online. 
• The man sent the ‘girl’ a number of flirtatious messages calling her gorgeous before they started to take a more sinister turn when he began to talk to her about sex. 
• The offender was given an 18-month sentence, suspended for two years, and an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.

• A convicted paedophile has lost a Supreme Court challenge over using evidence in court gathered covertly by so-called paedophile hunters.
• Judges unanimously dismissed an appeal which argued that evidence from vigilante groups breached a person’s right to private life.
• It was brought by Mark Sutherland, who was caught by a Scotland based paedophile vigilante group. 
• Sutherland was subsequently convicted of attempting to communicate indecently with an older child.
• The UK’s highest court ruled on Wednesday that the interests of children have priority over any interest a paedophile could have in being allowed to engage in criminal conduct.

• Scotland’s Children and Young People’s Commissioner, Bruce Adamson has said every child in Scotland will need additional mental health support as a consequence of measures taken to tackle the coronavirus crisis. 
• Mr  Adamson said the pandemic had sent a “very negative” message about how decision-makers value young people’s voices.
• This comes as he publishes Scotland’s comprehensive assessment of the impact of the pandemic on children’s rights, the first such review undertaken anywhere in the world. 
• There have been escalating concerns across the UK about children’s mental health after support structures were stripped away at the start of lockdown.

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