https://www.cyberdaily.au/digital-trans ... m-material
As part of a transparency report by eSafety, the commission sent “legally enforceable periodic transparency notices” to Apple, Discord, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Skype, Snap, and WhatsApp to find out how they detect and prevent child exploitation.
While Skype is no longer active, the report found that in the other platforms, there were critical gaps that created risks of child exploitation and abuse.
“It’s disappointing to not see bigger steps taken by these powerful companies to tackle child sexual exploitation and abuse being perpetuated at scale on their platforms and services,” said eSafety commissioner Julie Inman-Grant.
“These companies have the resources and technical capability to make their services safer, not just [for] children but for all users. We’ve engaged with these companies about these issues for the past decade and highlighted these safety shortcomings in our previous transparency reports.”
https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local ... 50b25f852b
Police say Tyler Thomas, from Ohio, met Fishers teen Hailey Buzbee on an online gaming platform.
It's not clear which one.
But this is a potential danger that concerns all families. Police and child advocates are encouraging families to have conversations right now about staying safe.
The temptation after tragedy involving a teenager and danger online is for parents to say — just shut it all off.
But this space online, with games and chats, is where teens socialize and spend a ton of time.
It's not going away.
Neither, an expert with Community Health Network says, is the threat of predators playing here, too.
"They do this on purpose. They're very intentional about this. They're very skilled," said Angie Morris, nursing manager at Community Hospital Anderson's Sexual Assault Treatment Center. "Groomers will generally use a lot of time. They will invest a lot of time to get to know the child because they want to kind of get to know kind of where their vulnerabilities are, what kind of oversight does this kid have at home. They need to know, 'Is this someone who I can manipulate and get away with it?' The groomers, they've done this before. Very rarely will this be their first time interacting with a child online."
https://amp.rte.ie/amp/1556349/
Snapchat has blocked 415,000 accounts under Australia's social media ban for under-16s, the company has said, but warned some youngsters may be bypassing age verification technology.
The platform urged the Australian authorities to oblige app stores to check users' ages as an "additional safeguard" for the world-first crackdown.
Platforms including Snapchat, Meta, TikTok and YouTube must stop underage users from holding accounts under the legislation, which came into effect on 10 December.
Companies face fines of Aus$49.5 million (€28.6m) if they fail to take "reasonable steps" to comply.
Australia's eSafety online regulator reported last month that tech giants had already blocked 4.7 million accounts, delivering "significant outcomes".
As of the end of January, Snapchat said it had blocked or disabled 415,000 Snapchat accounts in Australia belonging to under-16s.
"We continue to lock more accounts daily," it said in an online statement.
