Online Safety Bill must go further to stop child sexual abuse

  • The NSPCC is urging the government to go further with the Online Safety Bill to tackle grooming and child abuse.
  • Research from the charity has shown reports of online child sexual abuse to the police have risen by over a quarter since 2018.
  • The NSPCC are recommending a clampdown on ‘breadcrumbing’ in which offenders use social media to form networks, advertise sexual interest in children and signpost to child abuse content hosted on other sites.
  • You can read the full story on the Police Professional’s website.

Immigration laws ‘will have massively detrimental impact’

  • Nine child protection and anti-trafficking groups say that the new Nationality and Borders Bill will have a massively detrimental impact on exploited children.
  • The government has been urged not to let an “adult-focused agenda take priority over children’s rights”.
  • Charities warn the new laws will leave children at greater risk of being unidentified, unprotected, and penalised.
  • You can read the full story on the Herald’s website.

More time urged for sex education to prevent pupils sharing explicit images

  • The National Education Union’s annual conference has heard calls from teachers for high-quality relationship and sex education (RSE).
  • Teachers have called for more time to be allocated for sex education to prevent pupils sharing explicit images of themselves.
  • Additionally, schools and colleges should be given time to embed RSE fully into the curriculum.
  • You can read the full story on Evening Standard’s website.

Children accidentally coming across far-right material

  • Teachers at the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) report that children are accidentally coming across far-right material online.
  • They stated that children’s access to social media and smartphones leave them more at risk of being exposed to extremist material than ever.
  • Teachers claim that the pandemic has increased the risk for young people, who were forced to spend more time online during lockdown.
  • You can read the full story on The Guardian’s website.

Using young people for violence should result in child exploitation charges

  • Former anti-terror officer, Jim Gamble states that dissidents who use young people to carry out acts of violence should be charged with child exploitation.
  • This was in relation to the arrests of eight people linked to disturbances in Derry/Londonderry on Monday.
  • Video footage online shows young people carrying a crate of petrol bombs before launching an attack on the PSNI.
  • Jim Gamble claims that young people are used as ‘cannon fodder’ as they are less likely to be punished in the same way as an adult.
  • You can read the full story on the Belfast Telegraph website.