SEX GAMES ORGANISED ON ROBLOX: BBC
Adult users are taking to gaming platform Roblox to organise sex games, a BBC report has found.
Users on the site gather in rooms known as ‘condos,’ where their avatars either wear sexualised clothing or wear no clothes at all, before they send each other messages asking for sex.
The games typically do not last longer than an hour, as they are often identified and then taken down by Roblox moderators.
Roblox is a popular gaming site for children, and it is feared that younger users are accessing the condos, although Roblox says the forums are usually difficult to find.
“We have zero tolerance for sexual content or behaviour of any kind, and we take swift action against anyone found to be acting in breach of our Community Standards,” a Roblox spokesperson told the BBC.
SNAPCHAT LAUNCHES TIME LIMITED LOCATION SHARING
Social media giant Snap Inc. has launched a new temporary live location sharing facility on its app, Snapchat. It is being promoted as a way of staying safe while ‘on the go’.
The feature can be activated for periods of 15 minutes, 1 hour or 8 hours and will operate even where “Ghost mode” (the non-location sharing mode) is selected.
Before activating, users will receive a pop-up warning that it is only intended for use by trusted friends and family. The feature can be cancelled at any time without prompting a notification to the other person.
TIKTOK HIRES HUNDREDS OF CONTENT MODERATORS IN EUROPE
China-based social media platform, TikTok, is to hire hundreds more content moderators in Europe in a bid to tackle inappropriate content on the platform.
According to a Financial Times report, many of the moderators have been hired from contracting companies like Accenture and Covalen, which are often used by other social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, who subcontract out much of their content moderation work.
It comes as a number of tech companies ramp up their efforts to limit the spread of harmful content on their sites amid growing criticism from politicians and the spectre of increased social media regulation.
Also this week, Twitter announced an expansion of its Safety Mode feature, which helps protect users against harmful and abusive content.
The feature, which can be activated in the Twitter account settings, automatically blocks accounts for a period of 7 days if they have been identified as writing harmful messages and replies.
GOOGLE TO MAKE APPS MORE PRIVATE
Developer of the Android mobile operating system Google has announced plans to make its apps more private.
Under the plans, dubbed the ‘Privacy Sandbox’ initiative, Google will limit the amount of personal data apps will be able to share with third parties such as advertisers, in a move to increase users’ control over what happens to their personal data.
The announcement comes after Apple announced that app developers who wish to share users’ personal information would require user permission.
The move is likely to harm social media businesses like Meta, who rely on personal information to help generate targeted adverts for users of Facebook and Instagram.
“People should be able to enjoy their browsing and app experience without worrying about what personal information is collected, and by whom,” Google says on its Privacy Sandbox website.
“Billions of people around the world rely on access to information on sites and apps. To provide this free resource without relying on intrusive tracking, publishers and developers need privacy-preserving alternatives for their key business needs, including serving relevant content and ads.”
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