Daily Safeguarding News - Safer Schools NI

TikTok announces new quarterly safety update, in line with EU requirements

In line with the new EU Digital Services Act (DSA), TikTok has announced that it will begin providing regular reports on its most recent attempts to improve user safety.
TikTok’s new quarterly EU Safety report will include a summary of all the steps the platform has taken over the last 3 months to address safety concerns and its evolving areas of focus.
The first report can be found here.
For more, please visit the Social Media Today website.

Children’s gaming platform Roblox has announced its plans to launch on Sony’s PlayStation consoles in October this year.
According to the firm, Roblox has over 60 million players a day.
The platform has frequently come under fire for poor moderation of its content.
Its popularity seemingly stems from the ability for players to create their own games, with children being ‘developers’.
In 2022 the NSPCC and Childline told the BBC that since the pandemic, the number of children calling their helpline with concerns regarding Roblox had increased five-fold.
Roblox has also announced ‘Connect’, a system that will allow people to call people in the game using their real names, body language and facial expressions.
Roblox announced in a blog post that it was available to players aged 13 and above, although it is unclear in which countries Connect will launch presently.
For more, please visit the BBC News website.

Petrol bombs and bricks were thrown at officers during a security alert in the Rosemount area which began on Friday afternoon.
They sustained burns, head injuries and potential fractures.
Police made another seizure of “what are believed to be six improvised explosive devices, a quantity of ammunition and a machine pistol”.
Superintendent William Calderwood stated “this is reckless and criminal behaviour, and it has to stop. It is absolutely appalling and achieves nothing except harm to our community.”
Another incident which occurred in Creggan on Thursday, saw 16 police officers injured, and children as young as eight were involved.
Assistant Chief Constable (ACC) Mark McEwan said the significance of Thursday’s discovery could not be underestimated, as the items recovered “are military grade”.
He continued, stating that the PSNI’s main line of inquiry is the New IRA: “we believe the intention was to mount attacks in an attempt to kill police officers”.
The items involved were being stored close to a children’s play area.
For more, please visit the BBC News website.