Latest news with #onlineviolence
BBC News
03-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Children accessing 'vile porn' on social media, warns safeguarding chief
Children are gaining access to "vile" pornography through social media platforms, the head of Northern Ireland's child safeguarding organisation has told McNally said the problem was "just beyond belief" and called for greater intervention in schools and local chair of the Safeguarding Board for Northern Ireland was speaking at the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee as MPs held an evidence session on tackling violence against women and said their research suggested "kids as young as nine" were accessing pornography, and its availability had been "normalised" by some social media platforms. The committee was also told that many women surveyed in Northern Ireland have withdrawn from public participation in online spaces as a result of "online violence".Olga Jurasz, a professor of law at the Open University and director of the Centre for Protecting Women Online, told MPs that those silencing effects are particularly deeply felt for women in Northern said the issue of violence against women and girls has been "amplified through technology"."Misogyny in particular has been popularised - we witness it every day - and it has also been monetised. Quite simply, it is for profit," she added. 'Some is down to influencers' BBC News NI has contacted X, Snapchat, TikTok and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, for comment on Bernie McNally's remarks. Snapchat guidelines prohibit users from sharing, promoting or distributing sexually explicit content, including Ms McNally told the committee that "some kids in school are asking their teacher how do you choke a woman".She said that girls between the ages of 16 and 18 who are sexually active were "all reporting being choked during sex"."So something has changed to normalise this and for young people, and some of it can be down to influencers," she added. Alliance Party MP Sorcha Eastwood raised the case of Alexander McCartney, a man from Northern Ireland who was jailed for extreme online sexual abuse of children and the manslaughter of a 12-year-old girl. She told the committee that during a meeting with representatives of social media companies before Christmas, "not a single one" had heard of the McCartney case."And we are expected to believe that these platforms can keep our children safe online," she Smith, from the broadcast and internet regulator Ofcom, responded: "Well, that's absolutely shocking that they hadn't heard of the case. I'm astounded by that."
Al Arabiya
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Al Arabiya
British Netflix hit ‘adolescence' to be shown in French schools: Minister
British Netflix drama 'Adolescence' -- which has sparked widespread debate about the toxic and misogynistic influences to which young boys are exposed online, can now be shown in French secondary schools -- a minister has said. The initiative follows a precedent set in the UK. The producer of the series broadcast on Netflix has 'opened up the rights to us' and the French education ministry will 'offer five educational sequences to young people based on this series,' Education Minister Elisabeth Borne told LCI TV late on Sunday. These excerpts from the mini-series are 'very representative of the violence that can exist among young people,' Borne said. She added that they would be shown in secondary schools to children from the age of around 14 onwards. Such materials are intended to help raise awareness of the problem of 'overexposure to screens and the trivialization of violence on social networks,' as well as the spread of so-called masculinist theories -- misogynistic spheres which advocate violence against women, said Borne. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the move to screen the show -- in which a 13-year-old boy stabs a girl to death after being radicalized on the internet -- 'an important initiative' which would help start conversations about the content teenagers consume online. 'Adolescence,' which was released on March 13, follows the aftermath of the schoolgirl's fatal stabbing, revealing the dangerous influences to which boys are subjected online and the secret meaning youngsters are giving to seemingly innocent emojis. The series has resonated with an audience increasingly disturbed by a litany of shocking knife crimes committed by young people and the misogynistic rhetoric of influencers like Andrew Tate. As of June 1, 'Adolescence' reached a total of 141.2 million views, making it Netflix's second most watched English-language series ever, according to industry magazine Variety.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Yahoo
News 8 Investigates: How online criminal group ‘764' terrorized Vernon teenager
VERNON, Conn. (WTNH) — The FBI has issued a new warning for all parents in Connecticut. A violent online network is growing, and it has ties to a local teenage girl. This is a story with national, international and local ties. The extremist group '764' has penetrated one local town in Connecticut. It was September of 2024 the arrest of the 17-year old who police say made several bomb and swatting threats to schools and places of worship was first reported. News 8 heard exclusively from the parents of that Vernon girl who say they want to just warn other families. 764 is an online network trying to promote world chaos, violence and more. 2024: Vernon police arrest teen suspected in threats to schools, places of worship The girl wanted acceptance into 764 where on-line predators first gain trust, then blackmail young people into capturing violent content to be shared online everywhere. 'Having that victim carve their alias into their body, having that individual commit suicide on live feed, having that individual kill animals,' said Vernon Police Detective Thomas Van Tasel The arrest of the Vernon teen followed a year-long investigation and the town being faced with threats. According to authorities, the more gore or violence, the better, because it raises participant's stature within 764. National partners at ABC news and the investigative unit spoke exclusively with the Vernon girl's parents. ABC agreed to alter their faces and voices. 'We didn't raise her to engage in that kind of activity it's like she was raised to be a law abiding citizen,' they said. Their daughter shared pornographic images and even this barbie doll with 764 carved in the forehead. Bomb threat targets top Connecticut Republican Sen. Steve Harding's Brookfield home 'Before it started she was a child who was on the honor roll she had a lot of friends she attended school activities …hung out with a lot of friends in person,' the parents said. The detective was asked if the girl from Vernon is a victim or a participant. 'Depending on you ask that question to the answer may be different,' said Van Tasel The young girl from Vernon is cooperating with authorities and she's receiving therapy, trying to get her life back on track according to her mother. Vernon police say look for signs of self-harm, suicidal thoughts, behavior changes and changes in eating habits. Officials advise parents to check gaming platforms and phones and to look through for any disturbing content. Watch the full story above. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to
