YouTube is experimenting with hiding dislikes to protect creators’ well-being 

  • YouTube has announced that it’s experimenting with hiding dislikes to discourage “dislike mobs” from deliberately downvoting videos from creators and channels.  
  • The experiment is a different implementation than the solutions the company had previously discussed, but it is similar to attempts that other platforms like Instagram have taken to disempower trolls and online bullying.  
  • In the current setup, figures for both likes and dislikes are viewable in a creator’s individual YouTube Studio page, but only likes will be displayed publicly on a video.  
  • In a support article explaining the test, YouTube says that dislikes can negatively impact a creator’s well-being and “may motivate a targeted campaign of dislikes on a creator’s video.” 
  • For the full story, select here

 

Politicians call for latest form of ‘scalping’ to be made illegal  

  • Teenagers such as 18-year-old Jake (not his real name) are participating in a practice known as ‘scalping’, which involves the buying and selling of various items online using bots.  
  • ‘Scalping’ to buy tickets to concerts was made illegal by the UK Government after a successful campaign led by artists like Ed Sheeran and The Arctic Monkeys.  
  • Bots are now being used to buy up in-demand items such as Pokémon cards, PlayStation 5s and designer trainers.  
  • Politicians and gamers are now calling for this form of buying and selling to be made illegal also. 
  • For the full story, select here.

Ofsted chief asked for greater powers to check for abuse in private schools 

  • The Chief Inspector of Schools in England asked for greater powers to monitor independent schools over “potential safeguarding issues”, but was ignored by ministers, the Guardian has revealed. 
  • Despite concerns raised by Ofsted’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman, the body was stripped of its role in overseeing inspections of private schools, some of which are now the subject of multiple allegations of inappropriate behaviour by pupils on the ‘Everyone’s Invited’ website.
  • Documents seen by the Guardian show that Spielman complained to the Department for Education in 2018 and 2019 that her organisation was unable to monitor the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI), to which the DfE delegates inspections of private schools.
  • For the full story, select here.  

    Rotherham child sexual abuse: misconduct officer given warning 

    • The BBC reports that a police detective who failed to properly investigate claims a girl had been raped by multiple men in Rotherham has avoided being sacked. 
    • Det Con Ian Hampshire was issued with a final written warning after he admitted to gross misconduct. 
    • A disciplinary panel concluded that he should not be held accountable for the “systemic failings of South Yorkshire Police”. 
    • The hearing is understood to be the first relating to the Rotherham child sexual exploitation (CSE) scandal.
    • For the full story, select here. 

    Children’s Commissioner: Abuse should never be dismissed as ‘boys being boys’

    • The Shropshire Star reports that the Children’s Commissioner for England has warned that sexual abuse should never be dismissed as “boys being boys” or “banter”.  
    • Dame Rachel de Souza made her comments as ministers and school leaders face growing calls to tackle sexual harassment and violence against young people, following thousands of allegations of sexual abuse by students. 
    • She said: “The growing number of children revealing they have been sexually abused or harassed at school is alarming, and a reminder that MeToo does not begin at 18.”
    • Her comments came after more than 10,000 reports were posted on the Everyone’s Invited website, where students can anonymously share their experiences of misogyny, harassment, abuse and assault.
    • For the full story, select here.