Instagram release new time management, parental control and managing recommendations tools

  • Instagram have announced the expansion of its time management tools with new feature called “Quiet Mode”.
  • The aim of the new feature is to reduce users’ anxiety about taking time away from the app.
  • Quiet Mode will do this by setting your status to ‘In Quiet Mode’ to let your friends know you’re not presently active, muting incoming notifications and setting automatic replies to DMs. Teenage users will also be nudged to enable the feature if they are up late using the app.
  • The app is now giving parents who use their built-in parental control tools the ability to see the accounts their child has blocked.
  • Users will also now have better control on what shows up for them on the app’s Explore page.
  • Users will be able to hide multiple pieces of unwanted content from Explore at once. Also, if a user selects “Not Interested” on a post in Explore, the app will try to avoid showing this type of content in future in the app’s recommendations.
  • Finally, blocked words has been expanded and will apply to recommended posts across the app.
  • For more on this story, please visit the Tech Crunch website.

Most game developers say harassment from players is a ‘serious problem’

  • According to the State of the Game Industry survey, more than 75% of game creators who were polled, stated that harassment and toxic behaviour were a “serious” or “very serious” problem.
  • Around 40% of these stated that they had experienced harassments directly and this was highly prevalent among LGBTQ+ and non-male developers.
  • Over half of those polled say their companies have done something about it, with some companies taking legal action to send a strong message to fans that there are real-world consequences.
  • For more on this story, please visit the Dot Esports website.

Step father gets life sentence after confessing to torture and murder of 5-year-old

  • A 34-year-old-man was given a life sentence after he confessed to the murder and torture of his five-year old step-daughter.
  • Nadia Zofia Kalinowska was pronounced dead at the Royal Victoria Hospital for Sick Children in 2019.
  • The child’s mother pleaded guilty to an ‘alternative’ charge to murder and admitted allowing her child to suffer serious physical harm.
  • At the time of her death, the child had 70 surface injuries including bruising, which led the Crown to conclude she had been subject to physical abuse in her family home.
  • For the full story, please visit the Belfast Telegraph’s website.