Twitter launches new process for reporting COVID misinformation

  •  Twitter has announced that it will begin testing a new reporting feature for users to flag tweets containing possible misinformation.
  •  Users can report misinformation through the same process as harassment or other harmful content.
  •  This is accessible through the dropdown menu at the top right of every tweet.
  •  By doing this, users will be prompted to select whether the misleading comment is political, health-related, or falls into another category.
  • The categories include further sub-category options to narrow down the specific type of misinformation.
  • Check out our blog on misinformation here.
  • Full story, here.

Face coverings in Scottish classrooms could be dropped earlier

  • Scotland’s Education Secretary has promised face coverings in classrooms will be dropped “as soon as possible”.
  • Whilst the Scottish government had said that masks would remain a requirement for at least 6 weeks, the requirement could now be dropped earlier.
  • Currently, all Scottish secondary school pupils are required to wear masks at all times during the school day.
  • Children under 12 are not required to wear face coverings in school but are required to maintain a 1m physical distance from teachers and staff.
  • This follows recent calls for better air filtering in schools to protect children and an air purifier trial in Bradford schools earlier in the week.
  • Full story, here.

Colleges need extra £570m due to rise in students

  • Colleges and sixth forms in England need an extra £570m to keep pace with the rising number of students, says the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).
  • The rise in numbers of older teenagers, and higher GCSE grades, is set to push up college numbers.
  • The IFS says funding for 16-to-18 learning fell by 11% in colleges and 25% in schools since 2010.
  • In response to this, the government has announced an extra £291m for the academic year of 2021-22, in addition to a £400m increase in the previous year.
  •  Full story, here.

Twitter has not banned Taliban content but will ensure it follows rules

  • Twitter has not yet announced the banning of Taliban related content from its platform despite an announcement from Facebook (including Instagram and WhatsApp)
  • A statement from the company did not say that such posts would be banned but suggested that the policy could change in the future.
  • In the same statement, a Twitter spokesperson claimed that Twitter will continue to proactively enforce rules and review content that may violate policies against the glorification of violence, platform manipulation and spam.
  • Full story, here.