Facebook Oversight Board reveals its first cases

  • Facebook’s Oversight Board has chosen its first batch of cases to review, which involve decisions originally made by the platform to remove user content
  • They include images of female breasts in a post about breast cancer and an image of a dead child alongside text about whether retaliation was justified against China for its treatment of Uighur Muslims
  • The Board said Facebook users had submitted 20,000 suggested incidents for review since October 2020
  • The arbitration body is inviting the public to comment on the cases – which have all been anonymised – over the next seven days
  • If it opts to overrule or alter Facebook’s original actions, then Facebook must both publicly respond and comply

Netflix uses algorithms to age classify all content 

  • Netflix has labelled all of its content with a UK age rating generated by an algorithm
  • The technology was developed with the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), which classifies films in cinemas
  • Netflix staff watched its entire catalogue, tagging sex scenes, depictions of violence and swear words, then fed this data into the algorithm
  • The BBFC urged other streaming services to follow suit
  • BBFC Chief executive David Austin said: “With people spending increasing amounts of time online, it’s more important than ever for families to have clear, consistent advice on content, so they can choose well”

Fortnite Chapter 2 Season 5 launch promises new content

  • Following a massive launch event starring, the release of the latest season of Fortnite; Chapter 2: Season 5 is now imminent 
  • The latest chapter involves hunters from different realities joining forces to fight something called “the loop”, and one of those hunters is the Mandalorian, accompanied as always by Baby Yoda
  • Season 5 features features various new and original Fortnite characters, in addition to the famed Star Wars bounty hunter
  • There are new locations including a jungle area and a sci-fi desert as well as new weapons

Two thirds of the world’s school age children have no access to internet 

  • Two thirds of the world’s school-age children – or 1.3 billion children aged 3 to 17 years old – do not have internet connection in their homes, according to a new joint report from UNICEF and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
  • The report ‘How Many Children and Youth Have Internet Access at Home?’ notes a similar lack of access among young people aged 15-24 years old, with 759 million or 63 per cent unconnected at home.
  • Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director said “lack of connectivity doesn’t just limit children and young people’s ability to connect online. It prevents them from competing in the modern economy… Lack of internet access is costing the next generation their futures.”
  • Nearly a quarter of a billion students worldwide are still affected by COVID-19 school closures, forcing hundreds of millions of students to rely on virtual learning, which many have no access to
  • The digital divide is perpetuating inequalities that already divide countries and communities, the report notes

Teaching Assistant caught hiding phone in toilets to take photos of children 

  • A teaching assistant who planted a camera in a school toilet to film children has been caught after one of the pupils spotted it
  • The man aged 24, has admitted recording the videos for his own sexual gratification
  • He managed to take seven videos with the iPhone overhanging a cubicle before it was noticed, a court heard
  • The learning support assistant, who used the name Dunne while working at Denmead Junior School in Denmead, Hampshire, has admitted voyeurism and making category C indecent images of children by taking screenshots of the videos
  • Outlining the case, prosecutor Paul Fairley told Portsmouth Crown Court: ‘The iPhone was set up in the school toilets and seven videos were recorded over those number of days…They were still on the phone when another child recovered it.’