UK must protect child influencers from exploitation

  • According to MPs, the government must introduce legislation to protect child social media influencers from exploitation.
  • The government must investigate adult pay standards in the industry and do more to force influencers to flag paid-for content to make ads more transparent.
  • MPs raised concerns about child influencers or “kidfluencers” who earn income through sponsorships or brand partnerships, and whose content is often aimed at children despite social media’s minimum age of 13.
  • You can read the full story on The Guardian’s website.

Police special constable sentenced for online child sexual abuse offences

  • A police special constable from Wakefield has been given a two-year suspended sentence for posting online messages fantasising about abusing children and possessing child sexual abuse images.
  • He was identified by National Crime Agency investigators after he used the app to send encrypted content.
  • Officers found 2,263 indecent images of children on his mobile phone in categories A-C (A being most severe) and 13 extreme bestiality images on his laptop.
  • You can read the full story on the National Crime Agency’s website.

WhatsApp introduces Reactions and is to double size of group chats

  • WhatsApp has launched the first stage of its ‘Communities’ update by adding Reactions to messages in group chats.
  • WhatsApp is also gradually rolling out the ability to add up to 512 people to a group chat – currently the limit is 256.
  • For more information on WhatsApp, check out our article.
  • You can read the full story on Social Media Today’s website.

Twitter expands TikTok-like display format in Explore tab

  • Twitter has expanded the testing of a new format for the Explore page to highlight the top content matched to a user, based on popularity and interests.
  • The updated layout includes the main ‘Trending’ page where users can select ‘Personalised’ or ‘Top Trends’ and a ‘For You’ feed.
  • The ‘For You’ feed includes a full-screen display of tweets, primarily focusing on video tweets but also integrating text tweets.
  • You can read the full story on Social Media Today’s website.

Ofsted to get new powers in tackling illegal unregistered schools in England

  • New legislation will give Ofsted powers to crack down on unregistered schools operating illegally in England.
  • The governments new ‘Schools Bill’ will also introduce compulsory registers so children who are not receiving a full education can be identified.
  • The government’s new bill will be formally announced on Tuesday during the Queen’s Speech.
  • You can read the full story on the BBC’s website.