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Simfin

online safety and digital citizenship specialist

Useful things for young people aged 14 and over

08 August 2016

Launched across Canada in February 2015 and in the UK in July 2016, Extreme Dialogue aims to reduce the appeal of extremism among young people and offer a positive alternative to the increasing amounts of extremist material and propaganda available on the Internet and social media platforms.

A series of short documentary films tell the personal stories of Canadians and Europeans profoundly affected by violent extremism; a former member of the extreme far-right in Canada, a mother from Calgary whose son was killed fighting for ISIS in Syria, a youth worker and former refugee from Somalia, a former member of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) whose father was killed by the IRA, and a former member of the now banned UK Islamist group al-Muhajiroun.

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03 August 2016

Pokémon GO has become an unexpected global phenomenon since its release in July. We explain what the game can do, the benefits and risks, and how parents can help their children play the game safely.

 

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02 August 2016

If you share an image of yourself online by photo, text or video, via your phone, tablet or computer always think first, “would I be ok with anyone and everyone seeing this?”

Any image of yourself that you send, can and might be shared by the person you sent it to. Once you press send, it is no longer in your control.

If you share a ‘nude’ or ‘underwear shot’ even with someone you trust, you are not able to control who they forward it to or where they save it. It can be sent on to anyone or posted anywhere on the internet. It could end up on social networking sites or even porn sites.

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18 July 2016

The launch of Pokemon GO highlights various privacy, security, safety, and privilege concerns with how we use and access tech. While these concerns existed prior to Pokemon GO, and will continue to exist long afterwards, this provides an opportunity to highlight some concrete steps about how we can use technology more safely, and take control over data collected about us.

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11 July 2016

A teenage girl from Glasgow has taken her own life after being subjected to sickening attacks of online bullying.

16-year-old Britney Mazzoncini took to social media to express her anguish in the days leading up to her death.

She was rushed to hospital in the early hours of Thursday morning but could not be saved.

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29 June 2016

A year after her death, most people remember Amanda Todd from her YouTube video, holding up hand-written pages describing how one mistake in front of a webcam led to her torment by bullies at school and online. But beyond that viral video, the fifth estate reveals a more complex and disturbing story about what happened to the B.C. teenager driven to suicide in October 2012 – not just bullying, but the deliberate sexual extortion of a 15-year-old girl by online predators. the fifth estate host Mark Kelley goes deep into Amanda’s world, with never-before-seen videos and web chats from two personal laptops that her family shared with the fifth estate. With in-depth interviews from her mother, father and friends, Kelley reveals the untold story of The Sextortion of Amanda Todd.