Twitter bans posting pictures of ‘private individuals’ without consent

  • Twitter has announced it will now let private individuals request that pictures or videos featuring them to be removed.
  • This ban aims to prevent harassment or invasions of privacy.
  • The ban includes exceptions for images and videos that are shared in the interest of the public, such as news.
  • For information on Twitter, check out our safety card.
  • Full story, here.

 

Twitch’s new tool, Suspicious User Detection, will identify users evading bans

  • Twitch is going further in its attempt to reduce harassment from the platform with a new tool called ‘Suspicious User Detection’.
  • This will evaluate the accounts of potential ‘ban evaders’ and compare that information against accounts that have already been banned from a streamer’s channel.
  • Streamers can choose to monitor a ‘likely’ evader or ban them and messages from other ‘likely’ evaders won’t be sent to chat.
  • This tool will be a default feature, but streamers can tweak or turn off the tool if they want.
  • Full story, here.

 

Sharp rise in teacher and pupil absence

  • Pupil absence due to COVID-19 has increased by 62% in two weeks, with teacher absence also seeing a substantial rise.
  • Government figures show that on 25th of November, 212,160 pupils were absent for COVID-related reasons, up from 130,560 on 11th
  • This follows the announcement that from today, masks have been reintroduced in communal areas for secondary school pupils and all school staff.
  • Full story, here.

 

Council has right to see home educated pupils’ work

  • A High Court ruling states that Portsmouth City Council was within its rights to ask for examples of a home-educated child’s work.
  • This was to ensure the child was receiving education that was to a suitable standard.
  • A parent launched a judicial review against the council, stating that the demands were ‘unreasonable’ and put ‘burden of proof’ on home educators.
  • The High Court decision comes as the number of children withdrawn from school for elective home education went up 34% last year.
  • Full story, here.

 

Wales’ school watchdog details effects of the pandemic on children’s learning

  • Head of Estyn, Clare Morgan’s annual report states that the impact of the pandemic on education is still not clear, and the effect on education staff should not be underestimated.
  • The report aimed to review how schools and other education providers adapted to problems caused by the ongoing pandemic.
  • Key findings were reported for primary, secondary, Welsh-medium, and special needs education (SEN) schools, alongside further education colleges.
  • Full story, here.