In the News

Fast growing disappearing messaging service Snapchat has been the target of a hack which revealed the username and phone numbers associated with 4.6 million accounts.

Facebook's terms and conditions state quite clearly that you need to be 13 to open up an account with them. However, a lot of people ignore this and many of my friends' children have their own accounts, including children as young as five.

Children as young as ten are among hundreds of youngsters being admitted to hospital after self-harming. On average at least one child was treated for self-inflicted wounds every day in the county’s accident and emergency wards in the past two financial years.

Children today face pitfalls online unknown to previous generations, but technology and talking about it can help keep them safe.

Four months ago Gibson Security, a group of freelance vulnerability researchers, notified Snapchat that it had found serious flaws in the image-flinging service's security and privacy systems. Having heard nothing back, the group has now released the details and some exploit code to back up its claims.

CBBC Presenters sing about how to stay safe online.

PARENTS giving their children one of the most wanted presents this year, a tablet computer, are being given advice by Dorset Police on how to stay safe online.

This Christmas day, many children will be asking their parents for tablets, games consoles and smartphones. It has been a busy year for technology; with new consoles like the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4, as well as cheaper-than-ever tablets, which look set to further increase the take up of tablets, which has already tripled in the last year.

Pornography filters used by major internet service providers are blocking websites offering sex education and advice on sexual health and porn addiction, the BBC has learned.

Women's groups are calling on the police and prosecutors to treat abuse of women and girls online as "robustly" as they do offline, as a report published on Thursday reveals the extent of sexual harassment on social media sites such as Twitter.

SCORES of Wigan school children – some as young as five – have been excluded from schools across the borough for serious sexual abuse, watching pornography and sharing inappropriate images of themselves.

A TEACHER caught in a ‘paedophile’ sting trying to meet what he believed was a schoolgirl for sex will be jailed in the New Year.

Police are appealing for help identifying a man who took this ‘selfie’ on a stolen smartphone and unwittingly shared it with its owner.

Safer Internet Day is a great oppportunity for all of us to raise awareness about staying safe online. Last year, the Safer Internet Day Campaign trended on Twitter in the UK – and we want to do the same again for #SID2014!

With all the websites that offer the opportunity to play with people from around the world, every child can find something that appeals to their interests. Every time a child is exposed to other children online, though, the risk of cyber bullying increases as well.

Twitter has reversed changes it made to how people block other users, less than a day after they were introduced.

This week I was invited, by the UK's Authority for Television On Demand (ATVOD), to address conference members on the topic of protecting children from online pornography. While united with fellow speakers and attendees in an absolute commitment to child welfare I am concerned; blanket censorship - such as the proposed ISP blocking in the name of child protection - is not the answer. In fact blanket censorship will lull parents into a false sense of security and lead children to greater risks online.

Sex offenders will have no protection if they sleep with a child over the age of 13 and claimed they consented, according to new sentencing guidelines. They see the removal of "ostensible consent" - the idea a child over the age of 13 can agree to sex - while greater emphasis will be placed on grooming by individuals and gangs.

Francis Maude delivered this written ministerial statement on progress against the objectives set out in the UK Cyber Security Strategy.

A 17-year-old from Merthyr Tydfil who has been a victim of cyberbullying has launched a campaign to tackle online ‘trolls’ head-on. Jess Davies has made a short film to make cyberbullies question their behaviour and realise how serious their actions can be.