Mum says school failed girl who was harassed after bullies shared details
- The mother of a girl whose Snapchat details were shared online by bullies, has described the way her school treated the issue as “absolutely abysmal”.
- The 13-year-old girl received explicit texts after her Snapchat handle was shared on an adults-only forums.
- The bullies set up an account depicting her as a woman in her 20s.
- In one day, she had 80 people contacting her.
- The abuse was reported to Greater Manchester Police and the local MP, but the girl was left suffering from anxiety, insomnia and not attending school.
- Despite a letter from her GP outlining issues with her “mental health, confidence and energy”, the school refused to accept these reasons for her absence.
- The school did not offer a change of form class or timetable to help the girl transition back into school following the ordeal.
- For more, please visit the BBC News website.
Meta and Microsoft join new framework on responsible AI use
- Meta and Microsoft have both signed onto the Partnership on AI (PAI) Responsible Practices for Synthetic Media initiative.
- The initiative aims to establish agreement on responsible practices in the development, creation and sharing of media created through the implementation of generative AI.
- PAI will work to clarify their guidance on responsible synthetic media disclosure while addressing technical, legal and social implications of recommendations around transparency.
- Google has also published its own ‘Responsible AI Principles’.
- LinkedIn and Meta have shared their rules over the same with Meta likely reflecting much of what the new group will be aligned with.
- For more, please visit the Social Media Today website.
Instagram is rolling out its Channels feature for broadcasting messages globally
- Meta have announced it’s rolling out Instagram’s Channels features for broadcasting messages globally.
- The Channels feature was first launched in February to let creators share one-to-many messages with their fans.
- Users can go to the DM section and see “Suggested channels” and search for channels they want to join.
- Instagram says these channels are based on interests, interactions with creators and general activity on the platform.
- Meta have announced they are testing question prompts for followers along with a dedicated channels tab in the inbox.
- This is alongside testing tools for creators including a channel expiration date, and time and adding moderators.
- For more, please visit the Tech Crunch website.
The following stories may be regionalised.
Urgent warning to parents as man in van ‘tries to abduct children’ outside school
- Schools in Greenwich, London, have urged parents to be vigilant following reports of a man in a silver van reportedly trying to abduct a child.
- The incident was reported by a parent, who intervened before the issue could escalate any further.
- The man was driving a silver Ford Transit van and has since been reported to the police.
- A letter was issued by St Thomas More Catholic Primary School in Eltham warning parents and carers of the issue.
- For more, please visit the Express News website.
Youngsters reduced to ‘numbers on spreadsheet’, according to childcare leader
- The Early Years Alliance annual conference has heard that children have been reduced to “numbers on a treasury spreadsheet”.
- This comes amid Government plans which prioritise free childcare over supporting early learning or improving life changes.
- The proposal of up to 30 hours a week of free childcare for working parents in England was made in a spring statement.
- Childcare providers have said they cannot take much more pressure and have been put in a position where they are expected to deliver on a “huge promise”.
- For the full story, go to the Independent’s website.
