Risky online behaviour has become ‘almost normalised’ among young people, finds research
There is a danger of risky and criminal online behaviour becoming normalised among 16 to 19-year-olds, according to a Europe-wide study. It found evidence of widespread criminal, risky and delinquent behaviour, with one in four belonging to this age group having trolled someone online.
The research, involving 8,000 youngsters, also discovered that one in eight have engaged in online harassment, one in 10 have engaged in hate speech or hacking, one in five have engaged in sexting and four out of 10 have watched pornography.
Results showed that almost half of participants committed acts that could be considered illegal, such as hacking, non-consensual sharing of intimate images or ‘money muling’ – the act of transferring stolen money and passing it on.
Respondents were asked questions about looking at pornographic material, posting revenge porn, sending sexual images and posting hate speech.
Co-author Julia Davidson, professor of criminology at the University of East London (UEL), said: “The research indicates that a large proportion of young people in the EU are engaging in some form of cybercrime, to such an extent that the conduct of low-level crimes online and online risk-taking has become almost normalised,” she said.
Males were more prone to engage in risky or criminal behaviour: nearly three-quarters admitted to some form of cyber deviance, compared to 65 per cent of females.
The survey found that half of 16- to 19-year-olds spent four to seven hours a day online, with nearly four out of 10 spending more than eight hours a day online, mainly on phones. The top five platforms among the group were YouTube, Instagram, WhatsApp, TikTok and Snapchat.
It also comes after the return to parliament of the Online Safety Bill, which will require tech firms to prevent younger users from accessing potentially harmful material.
The EU has just adopted the Digital Services Act, which will demand tech platforms and Google weed out illegal and harmful content – such as cyber violence against women and online harm to children – or face fines.
Facebook Dating introduces age verification tool to prevent use by under 18s
Minors will be blocked by accessing Facebook’s dating platform after it announced it is adding an age verification tool.
If age detection technology by parent company Meta finds potential discrepancies in the age someone using Facebook Dating provides and their suspected age, they will be prompted to verify their age.
There will be two options to do this: upload an ID document or use facial age estimation technology, devised by UK firm Yoti. The latter analyses a selfie taken by the user. All images are instantly deleted once someone receives their estimated age.
The system will first roll out to users in the US, it was confirmed. It comes after similar measures were introduced on Instagram, initially in the US and then the UK.
Julie Dawson, Yoti chief policy and regulatory officer said, “Enabling young people to thrive and be safe online is of the utmost importance. So we’re delighted to continue our work with Meta to create age appropriate experiences, this time on Facebook Dating. Daters can have greater confidence in who they are meeting online, and most importantly, young people will be better protected from accessing inappropriate content and experiences.”
Erica Finkle, Meta’s director of data governance, said: “Our age assurance tests show that our tools are working to help keep young people within age-appropriate experiences, and we’re proud to partner with Yoti to provide people with simple to use options that respect their privacy.”
She explained that on Instagram, the company was able to stop 96 per cent of the teens who attempted to edit their birthdays from under 18 to 18 or over from doing so.
WhatsApp threatens UK shutdown in encryption row
WhatsApp may withdraw its service in the UK if ministers push on with plans to require easier access to messages for police and MI5, The Telegraph reports.
The head of the messenger app, Will Cathcart, told the paper the company was prepared to see the app blocked for smartphone users in this country rather than weaken its security.
The forthcoming Online Safety Bill requires companies to act to limit the spread of child sexual abuse content and material promoting terrorism, and gives law enforcement agencies the power to access encrypted messages on services such as WhatsApp.
Mr Cathcart said: “The Bill provides for technology notices requiring communication providers to take away end-to-end encryption – to break it.
“The hard reality is we offer a global product. It would be a very hard decision for us to make a change where 100pc of our users lower their security.”
With end-to-end encryption, only the two users can see the messages. Not even law enforcement or WhatsApp itself can see the contents of the private communications of its two billion worldwide users. In the UK, WhatsApp is used by 40 million people.
The Online Safety Bill, which is making its way through parliament, will give regulators powers to impose hefty fines on tech giants. The Government has said the legislation could, as a “last resort”, give telecoms regulator Ofcom the power to force private messaging apps to use “highly accurate technology to scan public and private channels for child sexual abuse material”.
Child safety campaigners criticise Meta, the owner of Facebook and WhatsApp, for its stance on encryption and argue it allows paedophiles and terrorists to share illegal content. A government spokesman said: “We support strong encryption but it cannot come at the expense of protecting children from exploitation.”
However, Mr Cathcart argues that WhatsApp messages should be considered private because they are similar to private conversations in the home. He added: “So far it has just been authoritarian countries that have banned it.”
Apple is also on a collision course with the UK government over the online safety bill, after it announced it will add additional encryption to its iCloud internet storage service for iPhones.
Users will be able to apply end-to-end encryption to all their data stored in the cloud. The new privacy feature, called “advanced data protection for iCloud”, lets people apply end-to-end encryption to device backups, message histories and photos. It is already available for users in the US under the company’s beta programme, and will be shipped worldwide in early 2023.
Social media posts falsely link nasal flu vaccines to rises in strep A infections
Facebook posts which contain incorrect claims that recent deaths in children from strep A infections in the UK are linked to the nasal flu vaccine have been shared thousands of times.
Fact-checking site Full Fact stressed: “The nasal flu vaccine doesn’t contain strep A, and there is no evidence at all that the vaccination of school children against flu has anything to do with the increase in cases.”
One post says: “Four weeks ago, all UK PRIMARY aged children get live flu nasal spray. Today, primary aged children dying from strep […] Dot to dot.”
Another says: “Four weeks ago, UK school children received a “floo”nasal spray. Today, there are children are dying [sic] from Strep-A.”
Most strep A infections are mild, but more severe invasive cases – while still rare – are increasing. The bacteria can cause symptoms like a sore throat or skin infections, as well as scarlet fever – with a sore throat, skin rash that feels like sandpaper, a fever and a so-called “strawberry tongue”.
Strep A is treated with antibiotics, which tends to reduce the risk of complications and spread of the bug.
It can also cause more serious and even life-threatening infections called invasive group A strep (iGAS), when the bacteria enters deeper into the body, sometimes including the bloodstream.
Parents are advised to speak to a health professional of their child is showing signs of deteriorating after a bout of scarlet fever, a sore throat, or a respiratory infection.
News from elsewhere this week:
No one will be safe online until we break Big Tech’s toxic algorithms – New Statesman
Online safety: what young people really think about social media, big tech regulation and adults ‘overreacting – The Conversation
Labour: Social media bosses should be held criminally liable for harmful content – New Statesman
Will the Online Safety Bill really stop deepfake porn? – Dazed
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