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You may already know that livestreaming plays a major role in children’s entertainment, with a wide range of personalities influencing young viewers in both positive and negative ways. While watching streamers can be fun, it also comes with significant risks, including misinformation, 💰 financial harms, and ⚠️ inappropriate content.

Popular streaming platform Twitch has over 2.5 million viewers at any given time, which is why it’s more important than ever to stay informed. This week’s guide 📖, also available as a podcast 🎧, explores the potential dangers of livestreaming and offers essential insights to help you protect the children in your care.

Grab our guide below!National Online Safety

Online multiplayer games like Roblox are enjoyed by millions across the world and can be a great way for friends to socialise; however, they can also expose young people to variety of potential harms. Roblox is a multi-platform game that enables people to play anonymously, which can often be something that attracts people to misuse the game and put younger players at risk of harm.

In addition to interacting with random strangers across the world, it’s important to be aware of other risk factors, such as in-game purchases and potential scams that can put young people at risk financially.  We’ve created this week’s free guide – also available in podcast format – offering parents and educators expert advice about what can be done to ensure that young people have a safe and enjoyable experience with Roblox.

Grab our guide below!National Online Safety

If there are two things that are popular nowadays, it’s Marvel and video games. Marvel Rivals is a new release combining these two into one, letting players take on the role of various superheroes 🦸‍ and villains 🦹 ‍in a competitive multiplayer shooter 🎮💥 At the time of writing, the title has proven immensely successful: with the developer, NetEase, reports that as many as 40 million people are playing the game – many of whom will be children, owing to the game’s PEGI 12 age rating.

While most of Marvel’s content has been family–friendly (and this game has been deemed suitable for children as young as 12), this title does still present numerous potential risks to children and young people 🚨⚠️ We’ve put together this week’s free guide – also available in podcast format 🎙️ offering parents and educators expert advice on the potential pitfalls of Marvel Rivals and how to protect its younger players. 

‘Fake news’ is a widespread issue in the digital world, and it’s overwhelmingly likely that both children and adults will be exposed to it online ❌📰 In fact, a study from the Alan Turing Institute has found that 94% of people in the UK have encountered misinformation on social media 📈 and that’s only the ones who were aware of it! 

However, while some fake news is shared mistakenly by well-meaning individuals, it’s also shared by scammers and other cyber-criminals to lend legitimacy to their con. While this presents a clear risk to children and young people online, the question remains as to how we can protect them against such tactics 🛡️ This week’s free guide offers expert advice on the specific ways scammers use misinformation and how to safeguard younger users against these techniques. 

With 22% of its billion-strong userbase being between the ages of 13 and 17, the popularity of TikTok among the younger generation is indisputable 💯 Providing entertainment in the form of a stream of short-form video content 📼 while allowing its users to post videos of their own 📽️ the app has skyrocketed to prominence over the last few years, becoming a fixture in young people’s digital lives 📱 

Of course, with a platform as popular and gargantuan as TikTok, it can be intimidating trying to figure out how best to safeguard children and young people using the app. That’s why we’re releasing our brand-new guide to TikTok, detailing the main online safety concerns and suggesting strategies to reduce these risks for the app’s younger users.

According to findings from the NHS, 1 in 5 children in England suffer from a probable mental health issue, with 420,000 treated for such problems every month 😔 With such high numbers of young people in need of mental health support, it’s perhaps unsurprising that plenty of them have turned to using apps intended to help them through these kinds of challenges 📱

Unfortunately, there are plenty of risks associated with these services ⚠️ from data collection to a potentially unhelpful, impersonal experience. It can be difficult to know how to keep young users safe as they navigate these services, but this week’s free guide provides expert advice on how to do exactly that, while also breaking down the specific safety concerns of mental health and wellbeing apps.