Extremists using video-game chats to spread hate

  • Research by BBC Click found that extremists are using mainstream video games and gaming chat platforms to spread hate.
  • Researchers found anti-Semitism, racism, and homophobia over three months on platforms, including DLive and Odysee.
  • These platforms are used to stream and chat about games such as Call of Duty and Minecraft.
  • The extremist narratives are found among everyday conversations, which can lead to radicalisation.
  • The users are then prompted to move extremist discussions into encrypted apps like Telegram.
  • Despite the platforms’ anti-hate policies, the researchers found extremist scenarios within games that let players create and share their custom maps and environments.
  • These included Nazi concentration camps and a Uyghur internment camp in games such as Roblox and Minecraft.
  • Full story, here.

 Discord starts testing YouTube integration

  • Discord has begun testing YouTube integration in a small number of Discord servers.
  • The new feature is called ‘Watch Together’ and allows Discord users to watch YouTube videos together.
  • A similar feature was tested 10 months ago, but Discord prioritised YouTube integration following Google’s shutdown of music bots – ‘Rhythm’ and ‘Groovy’.
  • ‘Watch Together’ allows Discord server members to create video playlists and share the ability to control playback.
  • The feature is rolling out to Discord friends and family servers from the 22nd of September and expanding slowly to all users by the end of October.
  • For more tips on staying safe on Discord, check out our safety card.
  • Full story, here.

Black girls in England are twice as likely to be excluded from schools

  • A report has found that black and minority ethnic girls in England are more than twice as likely to be excluded from school as white girls.
  • Equality campaigners have raised concerns at the findings that show that the number of girls excluded from education is growing at significantly higher rates than boys.
  • The data was uncovered by Agenda, an alliance of more than 50 charities through a Freedom of Information request to the Department of Education (DoE).
  • Black Caribbean girls were permanently excluded from school at a rate double that of white British girls during the autumn terms of 2018-19 and 2019-20.
  • During the same terms, girls from Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities faced rates of permanent exclusion that were four times higher than those of white British girls.
  • The report calls for routine publishing of data on school exclusions broken down by sex and ethnicity, and for the DoE to act on the racial disparities.
  • Full story, here.

Children in most deprived areas suffered greatest loss of learning

  • The Office for National Statistics (ONS) found that the youngest primary school pupils and those in the most deprived areas suffered the greatest loss of learning during the pandemic lockdowns in England.
  • Schools with the highest proportion of children eligible for free school meals (FSM) faced the biggest struggles in teaching remotely.
  • The ONS report cited lower levels of pupil engagement and communication with teachers, lack of internet access and “social problems” associated with deprivation.
  • Children aged five to seven, in key stage one, covered the least classroom material, compared with older children.
  • The report also showed that remote learning was ill-adapted for some subjects including art, design, and technology while maths, english and P.E were more successful.
  • Full story, here.