Seeing violent online content starts in primary school, claims Ofcom study

Children describe violent content as ‘unavoidable’ online Teenage boys more likely to share violent material to ‘fit in’ with peers Recommender algorithms and group messaging fuel exposure Children’s willingness to report harmful content undermined by lack of trust in process Children first see violent online content while still at primary school and describe it as…

Scammers profited over $658 million from social media users in H1 2023 

According to data presented by the Atlas VPN team, social media scams earned fraudsters an astounding $658M just in H1 2023, exponentially higher than any other contact method. Compared to 2022, total reported fraud losses increased by $50M (from $608M).   In all, 83,302 fraud instances originating from social media were recorded in the first half of 2023. The total number of social media fraud…

Tech Digest daily roundup: Social media firms face ‘humongous’ fines if they don’t block Under 13s

Social media firms could face “humongous” fines if they fail to block the accounts of under-13s, the technology secretary has said. Michelle Donelan made the comments on the eve of the long-awaited online safety bill returning to parliament for its final stages on Wednesday after numerous delays. Donelan said she wanted a “zero tolerance” approach…