With the launch of the new TikTok Stories feature, we take a look into what social media stories are and why young people use them. Long gone are the days of buying disposable cameras - capturing moments with friends on school holidays to bring in and show around to classmates on the morning back to
There seems to be ‘an app for everything’ now. With the simple push of a button, we can now order our groceries, listen to an entire album, play complex videogames... The list is endless. It makes sense that some companies have begun to try and use this
Communications regulator Ofcom has released its latest Media Use and Attitudes Report 2022 looking at the recent online trends and attitudes of children and parents across the UK. The report provides a clear snapshot of parents, children, and young people’s current media habits that can help us understand the emerging trends,
A horror game character from ‘Poppy Playtime’ named Huggy Wuggy has been raising concerns amongst parents, police and safeguarding professionals. WARNING: This contains images and details some people may find disturbing. This should not be shared with young children.
Research shows that disabled youth, especially those with autism, are at increased risk for bullying compared to their neurotypical peers. At Ineqe Safeguarding Group, we believe that all young people should have safe and equal access to the digital world. Social media and the online world can be a difficult place
The lifestyle of being a carer is often a lonely one and for young carers any isolation can be tough to cope with. In honour of Young Carers Action Day 2022, here’s our guide on how to spot, support and stand with the young carers in your
As a global community, we have faced a turbulent few years, ruled chiefly by the COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions it brought. Now as we enter Spring 2022, the recent Russian invasion of Ukraine has taken over media attention and national concern. We live in a time
Snapchat have recently announced the release of a new feature: Snapchat live location sharing. It will allow users to share their real-time location with friends via the app, expanding their existing Snap Map feature that launched in 2017. What is Snap Map? The Snap Map is a
As we get further into 2022, many of today’s top social media apps and platforms have started rolling out new features with the intention of protecting their users. Instagram’s new features mainly focus on screen time limits, account security, and content control - areas that its
Guidance for Parents and Carers WARNING: This contains images and details some people may find disturbing. This should not be shared with young children. Our online safety experts have been alerted to a video game, being described by some users as an “introduction to
What’s New? Instagram have recently launched two new features ‘Desktop Uploads’ and ‘Collaborations’. Both features are now available on the latest version of the app and desktop site. The platform has also announced that they are currently testing two further video features. Our online safety experts have taken a look to see what these changes
Police in Northern Ireland have issued a warning following a surge of recent reports about a WhatsApp scam targeting victims across the region. This scam involves a scammer pretending to be a child or relative asking their loved ones for money via a WhatsApp message. Superintendent Gerard Pollock, Chair of
Due to the popularity of Netflix’s most recent viral show, Squid Game, our online safety experts have received several questions about it from concerned parents, carers, and teachers. We decided to release a Safeguarding Update that highlights the main risks and concerns our experts found when researching the show. What is Squid Game? Squid
Online Safety Alert Our online safety experts have been alerted to the concept of ‘Gacha Heat’ videos using the characters and backgrounds from the popular roleplaying game Gacha Life. These videos contain characters and backgrounds made on Gacha Studio which is part of their suite of apps. The ‘Gacha
This contains sensitive information and should not be shared with anyone below the age of 18 years old. Safeguarding Alert Our online safety experts have been alerted to a potentially viral TikTok trend. The trend focuses on people recording “reaction videos” while searching for a term that brings them to a specific type of illegal, sexual online content. From what our experts have discovered, the explicit material
On the 29th of July, an update was made in part 4, section 2. Full details below. After more than a year of increased online risk for children and Ofsted’s review of sexual abuse in schools and colleges across the country, the Department of Education has published a new “strengthened” version
Urgent Online Safety Alert Why are you receiving this alert? Our online safety experts have been alerted to an extremely dangerous website and app called ‘Monkey’, which allows users to have video calls with strangers. The platform markets itself as ‘an alternative to Omegle, with a TikTok vibe’. Our online safety
Date Published: 14th May, 2021 A study taken in 2020 showed that 72% of parents don’t understand gaming jargon used by their children. It’s important to understand what these words mean, as some of them can be violent or dangerous. We’ve compiled a cheat sheet of the most common words used by the gaming community and what they mean
Yesterday, Newsweek reported that TikTok users were warning each other that a group of men had been discussing the 24th of April as a national day of carrying out rape and sexual assault. This worrying online trend was reportedly started by a group of up to six men who claimed that all sexual assault was legal on this day, while encouraging their followers to commit these crimes. Several other news outlets have begun
Snack is a video dating app where users share short videos to match with others. This app is described as ‘video first’ for its use of short videos in place of how photos are usually used on dating apps. Think ‘TikTok’ meets ‘Tinder’. Users record a short video of themselves and upload it onto their profile. They can then watch other people’s recorded videos, swiping right or left on each one
This new feature is currently being rolled out, as it becomes available our online safety experts will provide updates on the new function. What's Happening? Instagram is rolling out a new feature called ‘Live Rooms’, which will allow users to ‘go live’ and broadcast with up to 3 other people to their audience. This new feature
We first alerted our networks and the public last year, to dangerous activities happening on Omegle. Following recurring press reports, and concerns from parents and safeguarding professionals, we’re again pushing this alert to our networks. Last year schools across the UK were warned about a well-known chat room. Some schools issued warnings to parents and carers urging
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) continues to pose a serious threat to the well-being of women and young girls in the UK and world. Our team of in-house experts have prepared the following article to ensure parents, carers and safeguarding professionals are equipped with the essential knowledge and skills to protect and safeguard women and girls from FGM. The
An influencer is someone with an online social media presence and with a large enough following to market or ‘influence’ their audience to buy products, services and goods. The truth is that anyone can be an influencer, and some are famous solely for being an influencer. Popular influencers often create and sustain a
Do you receive our Safeguarding Alerts? Receive regular updates to help you safeguard children in a digital era. Creative Activity Pack As the lockdown begins to ease, we could all benefit from less screen time, give children in your care the opportunity to get away from