Daily Safeguarding Update

Vulnerable children at greatest risk from online harms

Britain’s two million most vulnerable children are seven times more likely to come to harm online than their peers, according to a study by Internet Matters, the online safety body
Yet those children are also more likely to rely on the internet for support and entertainment, especially during the coronavirus pandemic, the not-for-profit group said
It called for parents, schools and technology firms to find ways of protecting children, without removing their access
The report, Refuge and Risk, by the consultancy Youthworks in partnership with Internet Matters, surveyed 14,449 children aged 11 to 17, of whom 6,500 self-identified as having one or more vulnerabilities, such as being in care, being autistic or having an eating disorder
The study found that 40% of children with three or more vulnerabilities had experienced cyberbullying or racist or homophobic comments, compared with 11% of their peers
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Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford says he was subjected to “humanity and social media at its worst” after receiving racist abuse on Saturday
The 22-year-old, who was awarded the MBE for his work fighting child food poverty, received multiple racist messages on Instagram on Saturday
They were sent to the England striker after United’s 0-0 draw with Arsenal.
Rashford failed to react, choosing not to share screenshots, as he said that would be harmful to the children and young people who follow him
In a statement released on Sunday, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said it was aware that a number of Manchester United players had suffered abuse on social media between Wednesday and Saturday
The Duke of Cambridge has called for racist abuse aimed at footballers to stop, calling it “despicable”
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A young man has been scammed out of £17,000 by a user on Instagram who used pictures of a glamorous lifestyle to show how easy it was to ‘get rich quick’
It was advertised on a foreign exchange app
“I was following this guy on Instagram and he always posts with his car, a rose gold Maserati, saying that he’s rich and self-made and really young, he’s only 21,” said the 24-year-old, accountant
“At first I put in £1,000 and once I saw I was getting money I deposited a bit more and more. In the end, I was scammed out £17,000,” he told the BBC’s Money Box programme
Since the coronavirus outbreak began last year, the average number of Instagram frauds reported each month has increased by more than 50%, according to new figures by Action Fraud, the UK police national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime
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