Every week e-safety adviser Alan Mackenzie sends me weekly updates. They are useful teaching resources but also parent guides to keep you up to date with current trends.
Here are a few tips from this week’s updates:
Article – TikTok Knows it is Harming Children
As well as other social media apps, TikTok has been under increasing scrutiny over the past couple of years particularly in relation to it’s so-called addictive design, persuasive design features, targeting of children and more. Historically TikTok (and others) deny this stating that the safety and welfare of their users is front of mind, but is that true?
In the United States 14 Attorney Generals are suing TikTok and as a part of this they have gathered a number of evidential internal documents which allegedly give some alarming information, such as:
- It only takes 260 videos (approx. 35 minutes on the app) to form a habit.
- Compulsive usage can be correlated to a number of negative mental health effects such as contextual thinking, analytical skills, empathy, increased anxiety.
- The positive outcomes of time-management tools would have negligible positive impact. This is where TikTok proposes the user takes a break after 60 minutes. However if a habit is formed after 35 minutes it questions whether there is any positive effect. But TikTok decided to release the tool because it was seen as good PR.
- The company is aware that current moderation practices are ineffective in relation to children (of all ages) being shown harmful content.
- TikTok purposefully demotes content from users they deem unattractive or disabled.
It should be noted that this evidence, and much more, is alleged. It will be up to the courts to decide and if true it paints an appalling picture of greed over safety and wellbeing.
You can read more about this on the 5Rights website HERE.
Instagram – Algorithm Reset
One of the most concerning ‘features’ of many social media platforms is the content fed to users by algorithms which uses interest signals and behaviour analysis to predict what individual users wish to see. The sad fact is that once you start to see inappropriate/vile posts it’s really hard to get rid of that type of content in your feed.
Interestingly, and no doubt in response to the Online Safety Act, Instagram are releasing a new feature within the app which will allow users to reset the algorithm, allowing users to start again. There’s no rollout date yet and how effective this feature will be is anybody’s guess, but is good to see companies taking positive steps in the right direction.
You can read more about this on the BBC website HERE.
For Parents – Roblox Major Safety Updates.
Last week Roblox, the game used by 90 million people daily, announced some major updates which are available to users and parents. The rollout has already started and will be fully implemented by March 2025. These safety updates include:
- Limits to how children under 13 can communicate.
- Parental controls accessible from the parents phone rather from the child’s device (remote management).
There’s too much detail to include within an email so to see an explanation of all the new features visit the Roblox website HERE.
You can also see the full guide to Roblox parental controls on the Internet Matters website HERE.
For Parents – Second-Hand Devices Guide
Often when children get their first or subsequent devices, particularly mobile phones, it’s a hand-me-down, for example when a parent gets a new device on contract. This can be a real positive, mobile devices are very expensive and the latest/greatest devices often have very limited additional functionality over older devices.
But it’s really important these devices are configured correctly for younger users. thankfully Internet Matters have a full guide to help parents navigate all the different features and settings, plus how to choose the right second-hand device, safety concerns and much more.
All information and guidance can be found HERE.
