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March 16, 2023

Snapchat adds new parental controls

  • Snapchat has added new content filtering controls for parents that block ‘sensitive’ and ‘suggestive’ content from their young person.
  • To enable this feature, visit Snapchat’s Family Centre, go to ‘Restrict Sensitive Content’ and turn it on.
  • When this feature is enabled, young people will no longer be able to see blocked content on Stories and Spotlight.
  • Turning on this filter will not impact on content that is shared in Chat, Snaps or Search.
  • Snapchat is also publishing its content guidelines for the first time to give creators more insights into what kind of posts may be recommended.
  • These guidelines will also outline what content will now be considered “sensitive”.
  • Some examples within the sexual content category include “all nudity, as well as depictions of sexual activity, even if clothed, and even if the imagery is not real.”
  • For more on this story, please visit the Tech Crunch website.

‘Boys go in and take photos of the girls’ at school’s unisex loos

  • A secondary school in England has been criticised over its unisex lavatories policy.
  • A teenage girl was injured when a male classmate allegedly “donkey- kicked” the cubicle door to photograph her.
  • Many cubicle doors have had locks broken and so boys are going over to the toilets to take photos and videos of girls.
  • The school reassured that the unisex toilets are supervised by staff at both break and lunch times whilst ensuring student privacy.
  • Parents were sent a letter to reassure them that the “distressing” incident has been fully investigated with the appropriate measures being taken.
  • For more on this story, please visit the Telegraph website.

Twitter is developing a new way to enable users to opt out of ads in certain categories

  • Twitter is developing a new option that would enable users to opt out of ads that fall under certain sensitive categories.
  • This will be viewable as a new section to its ‘Ad Preferences’ which will enable users to opt out of ads in certain categories.
  • ‘Gambling’ is currently the only option available, however it is likely to see the inclusion of alcohol, guns etc into its expansion.
  • This does not mean that you won’t see ads of this nature at all, as the wording states that you can ‘choose to see fewer ads about these categories by opting out.’
  • This follows the same method as Meta, who offer a similar option but doesn’t let you switch them off entirely.
  • For more on this story, please visit the Social Media Today website.

Transfer test: More affluent pupils at grammar school, study finds

  • Findings from the Centre for Research in Educational Underachievement highlighted that despite the cancellation of the transfer test in 2021 grammar schools continue to accept pupils from “affluent” backgrounds.
  • Non grammar schools have more pupils from disadvantaged and social backgrounds or with special educational needs in comparison to grammar schools.
  • Instead of test results, criteria included potential pupils having siblings already at the school, having registered for the transfer tests or going to a nearby primary school.
  • Only 3 of 63 grammar schools used previous primary school test results when deciding what pupils to admit.
  • For more on this story, please visit the BBC website.