The phrase ‘dark web’ might bring up all sorts of connotations in your mind, none of which are probably good. For most people, the dark web is a place never ventured to or even given much thought. It’s the other side of the internet, the shadowy depths where criminals and people who are up
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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
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Apple has released the latest update to their mobile system following a recent security breach much covered in the media. With iOS 15, there are multiple new features that change some of Apple’s core products in a big way. Our online safety experts have looked at all the new features in this update to
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Header Image ©& TM 2021 Marvel ©2021 CPIL. All Rights Reserved You may have recently seen popular gaming platform Fortnite in the news due to its ongoing legal battle with Apple. Because this game has always been popular with younger children and teenagers, we are often asked, “Is it safe
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What is it? The Scottish Government recently released the new National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland, the first update since the previous guidance in 2014. The non-statutory guidance describes the responsibilities and expectations for how safeguarding professionals and agencies should work together with parents, families, and communities to prevent and
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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
What is it? The Age Appropriate Design Code (sometimes referred to as The Children’s Code) is a new code of practice that sets out standards of age-appropriate design for “information society services” that are likely to be accessed by children. In other words, it’s new requirements for any companies that offer services online that are
Join our Safeguarding Hub Newsletter Network Members of our network receive weekly updates on the trends, risks and threats to children and young people online. Pause, Think and Plan Guidance on how to talk to the children in your care about online risks. Watch video
With the rapid advancement of technology and the big boom of the gaming industry in 2020, there is a good chance your household has at least one gamer living in it. Gaming is one of the fastest evolving social forums. Even if someone games privately instead of “online” (meaning they can play simultaneously with
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
There are so many online gaming platforms nowadays, it can be difficult to keep track of them all! One of the oldest platforms is Roblox, which is celebrating its 15th birthday this week. Roblox experienced a 122% increase in platform engagement over 2019 and 2020 due to the pandemic. With over 42 million daily users,
It’s that time of year again! When summer t-shirts are swapped for school ties, beach shorts replaced by crisp white shirts, and sandals in shoe-racks switch places with shiny new school shoes. Alongside these replacements, there are other transitions happening that may not be so obvious. As school timetables are given out, our home
Recently, many of the popular online platforms that we use every day released plans to improve the experience for users under 18. But will these changes actually improve the online safety for children and young people? Our analysts have reviewed the latest changes announced by Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Google to provide you with
Receiving exam results is always a stressful time. It’s the culmination of countless hours of hard work and stress on top of navigating education throughout a pandemic. For many, it will be a time of joy and looking forward to the future. However, this won’t be the reality for some pupils around the UK as they receive results that aren't what they hoped for. Dealing with
When a viral challenge is reported in the news or on social media, it can be difficult to establish the facts, risks, and what you need to do to protect the young people in your care. If you’re a parent or carer who’s seen reports of an online challenge, the first thing to do
With nearly two billion users worldwide, WhatsApp remains one of the most popular social media messaging services after ten years of being on the scene. Though they’ve clearly found a formula for success WhatsApp continue to develop and expand. Our online safety experts have examined the newest features to let you know what’s up
Your Content Goes Here Bullying is not a normal part of childhood and should never happen in any form. Unfortunately, this is a common struggle for children and young people today, and advancing technology only increases the risk. The long-term impact of cyberbullying on a young person’s physical and mental wellbeing can be profound. Cyberbullying, as
Join our Safeguarding Hub Newsletter Network Members of our network receive weekly updates on the trends, risks and threats to children and young people online. Visit The Safeguarding Hub Our resources ensure you have the insight and understanding required to meaningfully engage, support and advise the children in
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