Encouraging self-harm to be criminalised in Online Safety Bill

  • Content that encourages or promotes self-harm will be an offence, according to the latest update of the Online Safety Bill.
  • The government said the changes had been influenced by the case of Molly Russell, a 14-year-old girl who died by suicide after viewing content that promoted suicide and self-
  • This change would mean social media platforms would be required to remove self-harm content, and any user found to have posted such content may face prosecution.
  • For more on this change, please visit the BBC website.

Study suggests that TikTok encourages toxic diet culture in teenagers

  • Research from the University of Vermont has suggested that TikTok content related to food, nutrition and weight perpetuates harmful diet culture among teenagers and young people.
  • The study found that the most popular videos on the platform glorify weight loss and present food as a means of achieving ‘health’ and thinness but that expert voices were absent from the conversation.
  • The majority of the content was produced by young white, female creators, of which very few had appropriate healthcare qualifications or expertise.
  • For more on this study, visit the Ani News website.

Fashion brand apologises after ad campaign of children holding ‘bondage’ teddy bears

  • Spanish fashion brand, Balenciaga, sparked backlash over recent ad campaigns, which featured children holding teddy bears wearing bondage gear and an image of a Supreme Court opinion on child sexual abuse.
  • The court papers, used as a prop, were from the 2008 United States v Williams Supreme Court case, which criminalised the pandering of child sexual abuse imagery.
  • The brand was criticised online for exposing children to BDSM for ‘shock factor’, and have since publicly apologised, claiming they are ‘taking legal action against the parties responsible for creating the set and including unapproved items’.
  • For more on this story, visit the Independent website.

1 in 10 UK teachers forced to do second jobs ‘to keep eating’ 

  • The NASUWT teachers’ union has found that one in 10 teachers now have a second or even third job because their teaching pay doesn’t cover their monthly outgoings.
  • The Galaxy Trust recently conducted a staff wellbeing survey across all its schools, which found that teachers’ mental health is at risk due to the cost of living crisis.
  • Chief executive of the trust, Gary Ratcliffe, said: ‘This is about working to survive, not working to thrive’. Teachers are not taking on second jobs to fund holidays, but ‘to keep eating’.
  • For more on this story, please visit the Guardian website.