TikTok rolls out its own strike system for creators who violate its rules

  • TikTok is introducing a revamped “account enforcement system”.
  • This comes in a series of changes which includes a new strike system and features that allow creators to check if their content has been blocked from recommendations.
  • Changes come amid a push from TikTok to increase transparency around content moderation and algorithmic recommendations.
  • TikTok say that they will also provide creators with new tools to view how many strikes their account has had over the last 90 days.
  • To read the full story, go to the Engadget website.

What is the Mascara TikTok trend?

  • TikTok users have been using the word ‘Mascara’ to talk about relationships in a way which avoids TikTok’s censorship filters.
  • The term #Mascara has reached more than 100 million views in less than two weeks.
  • At the beginning of the trend, it was quite ‘wholesome’ as described by the BBC, with people saying the likes of, “I’ve had my mascara since I was 14 and there’s nothing like this one anywhere else”.
  • Shortly after, the trend had sexual connotations and then became a way of discussing sexual assault and trauma, with one user saying his mascara was tried “without my consent”.
  • For more, go to the BBC’s website.

Students to sit digital mock exams in new trial

  • Exams boards have predicted that digital exams will eventually become the norm for qualifications such as GCSEs, IGCSEs and A-levels.
  • Cambridge University Press and Assessment are trialling digital mock exams in up to 30 UK schools and 35 around the world.
  • GCSE computer science, IGCSEs in English and AS-level History will be offered to students under the OCR and Cambridge International exam boards.
  • Thousands of students over the coming weeks will complete weekly mock tests based on real exam papers.
  • Jill Duffy, chief executive of OCR, believes that “Digital assessment is not a hypothetical future, it’s happening right now.
  • She also stated that whilst digital assessments “will never fully replace traditional exams”, technology is improving student experience and can make exams more flexible with faster access to results.
  • For more on this story, please visit the Independent’s website.