'My phone blew up with messages'
Ellen Roome, who believes her 14-year-old son Jools died in an online challenge that went wrong, reacted on #BBCBreakfast after the government announced it will 'impose some form of age or functionality restrictions for children under 16' regardless of the outcome of the consultation on a social media ban in the UK
https://t.co/BryEBnIkm3
This is one of the most heart-breaking & important articles I have ever read - from someone whose voices are so rarely heard, a teenaged girl.
If you want to understand online misogyny in all its devastating impact, please read this shattering piece.
Here’s one appalling extract:
"A few days ago I saw an Instagram reel of a young woman talking about how she had been raped six years ago, struggled with thoughts of suicide afterwards, but managed to rebuild her life again. Among the comments – the majority of which were from men – were things like “Well at least you had some”, “No way, she’s unrapeable”, “Hope you didn’t talk this much when it happened”, “Bro could have picked a better option.” Reading those comments, which had thousands of likes and many boys agreeing with them, made me feel sick.”
And here’s the impact on this teenager’s self-esteem:
"Using social media has ruined my self-esteem & my relation to being a girl in this world, & nearly every day I feel hatred towards my gender, my appearance, or even teenage girls as a category. The misogyny I see from boys my age online, which is echoed in real life too, has made me grow resentful and bitter towards them, as much as I try to avoid it. As wrong as it is, I persistently find myself considering if there are truly any boys out there who are not misogynistic to some extent, & have even questioned whether I can find love in the future because of this.”
Our daughters do not have to grow up in a world that teaches them they're "community pussy" while still children. Teen boys aren't born misoygnistic - they learn these attitudes from adults. This is on every one of us, male and female alike, to fix. Banning kids from social media won't come close to addressing the fundamental misogyny that's alive, well and thriving in contemporary society. If all of us refused to accept it, called it out for what it is, culture would change.
What a brave young woman this author is.
Meta CEO and billionaire Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg arrived at a Los Angeles court for his first day of questioning about Instagram's effect on the mental health of young users, as a landmark trial over youth social media addiction continues https://t.co/uGo1HkiEgy
Anyone else hear Joseph Jebelli on Radio 4 this am? So interesting! A brain science corrective to the 'every second counts' bombardment of young people's brains in some versions of 'science of learning' & current trends like SLANT. Staring out the window may help you learn more!
so predators can fake their age with ai or trick the system and then be exclusively put in lobbies with mainly children.
i am very concerned for this update
Every child deserves to be safe online.
We've been working as part of the EU-funded Protech Project, alongside partners across the EU and the UK, to develop and test new ways to prevent and disrupt child sexual abuse online.
On 10 April, we will gather for the Protech Final Conference - a unique opportunity to share our research findings, discuss technological advancements and explore policy solutions with experts from across Europe.
If you work in child protection, tech, policy or law enforcement, this is an event you won’t want to miss.
🚀 Register now to secure your place: https://t.co/7M1RJqZNA9.
Kids are getting groomed on Roblox.
Roblox doesn't care. They have sex games with 400+ million plays and illegal material rings.
Let's make these problems KNOWN.
#Roblox $RBLX
Roblox's response is an abject failure to address the two core allegations in our report, including:
1. Evidence that Roblox has been systematically lying for years about the number of people on its platform and their genuine level of engagement.
2. That the platform is a pedophile hellscape with no up-front screening, replete with child porn trading rings and prolific sexually explicit content, all available to children.
$RBLX
Instagram’s announcement is another PR-driven attempt to get ahead of what regulation will soon require - & while welcome, with no upfront age assurance & lots of previously announced measures is far less than the sum of its parts @mollyroseorg https://t.co/Q1HTayPQxZ
1/3 Today we introduced Instagram Teen Accounts, a new experience for teens with built-in protections that limit who can contact them, what content they see and how much time they spend online. Importantly, teens under 16 will need a parent’s permission to loosen these settings.
#Sexting can carry serious risks: ⌛Online content can be saved and shared potentially forever. 🔑Once sent, you lose control over who sees it. 👩⚖️In some countries, sexting by minors can have legal consequences. Read more here👉 https://t.co/BHK6C9oCdH. #BIKBack2School
“Meta comes up with wonderfully crafted PR-spun statements that sound really promising but time after time they don’t deliver. I hope this is a turning point when they consider safety to be equally important to the profits they are making” https://t.co/WWaK9tvgh2
A few years ago now, but was a pleasure to interview @_andyburrows about online safety - see link in bio. Many congratulations @mollyroseorg for this brilliant appointment.
So well deserved. Have so much respect for @_andyburrows a former manager of mine when I was working in London a few years ago. More recently iterviewd him about online safety. If anyone can effect even greater change in this difficult space, Andy can!
Today, @mollyroseorg urges the next Govt to commit to five transformative policies that can reset the relationship between tech firms and child safety. It’s time for a new #OnlineSafetyAct & a bold new tech accountability framework. Read here:
https://t.co/1w8bkT3fBM