One in 10 UK parents say their child has been blackmailed online, NSPCC finds
Nearly one in 10 UK parents say their child has been blackmailed online, with harms ranging from threatening to release intimate pictures to revealing details about someone’s personal life,The NSPCC child protection charity also found that one in five parents know a child who has experienced online blackmail, while two in five said they rarely or never talked to their children about the subject,The National Crime Agency has said that it is receiving more than 110 reports a month of child sextortion attempts, where criminal gangs trick teenagers into sending intimate pictures of themselves and then blackmail them,Agencies across the UK, US and Australia have confirmed a rising number of sextortion cases involving teenage boys and young adult males being targeted by cyber-criminal gangs based in west Africa or south-east Asia, some of which have ended in tragedy,Murray Dowey, a 16-year-old from Dunblane, Scotland, killed himself in 2023 after becoming a victim of sextortion on Instagram and Dinal De Alwis, 16, killed himself in Sutton, south London, in October 2022 after being blackmailed over nude photographs.
The NSPCC based its findings on a survey of more than 2,500 parents and said that tech companies were continuing to “fall short in their duty to protect children”.Rani Govender, a policy manager at NSPCC, said: “Children deserve to be safe online, and that must be built into the very fabric of these platforms, not bolted on after harm has already been done.”The NSPCC’s definitions of blackmail included threatening to release an intimate image or video of the child, or something the victim wanted to keep private, such as their sexuality.The information could have been obtained consensually or it could have been obtained by coercion, manipulation or created using artificial intelligence.Perpetrators can be strangers, such as sextortion gangs, or someone the child knows, such as a friend or schoolmate.
The blackmailer can also demand a range of things in exchange for not sharing information, such as money, more images or staying in a relationship.The NSPCC said its definition of blackmail overlapped with sextortion but included a wider range of scenarios.“We chose the term ‘blackmail’ in our research because it allowed us to include extortion using other types of information that a child might want to keep private (eg their sexuality, images showing them without a religious garment) as well as a range of both sexual and non-sexual demands and threats,” the charity said.The report also advised against “sharenting”, which refers to parents sharing photos of and information about their children online.Experts recommend telling children what a sextortion threat looks like and being aware of who they are talking to online.
They also advise creating everyday opportunities for children to talk to adults, such as during meals together or regular car trips, so that teenagers feel they have a space where they can reveal they have been targeted by blackmail.“Knowing how to talk about online blackmail in an age-appropriate way and creating an environment where children feel safe to come forward without fear of judgment can make all the difference,” said Govender.The NSPCC also interviewed young people about why they might choose not to reveal a blackmail attempt to their parent or carer.The reasons for not disclosing the crime, according to the responses, include feeling embarrassed, preferring to talk to a friend first and feeling they “can handle it themselves”.
Your Party’s first conference shows little sign of achieving fresh start
When the idea of a new leftwing party spearheaded by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana was first mooted in the summer, it was so popular that hundreds of thousands of people expressed an interest in joining.Although it was quickly beset by arguments – its co-founders rowed bitterly over its initial leadership and funding model – many hoped this weekend’s inaugural conference would signal a fresh start.A sizeable chunk of the 2,500 delegates are former Labour members, disappointed by the policies of the current government and looking for a political home as they worry about the rise of Reform UK.As plans for the party’s first official gathering were finalised, Sultana and Corbyn looked to have buried the hatchet. Appearing at a leftwing festival in Manchester last month, Sultana jokingly compared the duo to the Gallagher brothers, saying: “I’m here to tell you the show is back on the road
Your Party conference thrown into chaos as Zarah Sultana boycotts first day
Zarah Sultana has boycotted the first day of Your Party’s inaugural conference, throwing the party’s first official gathering into chaos amid disagreements with co-founder Jeremy Corbyn over how the party should be run.Corbyn confirmed to journalists on Saturday that he preferred a single leader and is likely to stand for the role but Sultana said she would vote for collective leadership and that she did not believe parties should be run by “sole personalities”.In a sign of further division within the fledgling movement, a spokesperson for Sultana said she would not be entering the conference hall on Saturday in solidarity with delegates who were expelled over links to other leftwing parties, describing the process as a “witch-hunt”.The Guardian understands Sultana will run against Corbyn if members decide to elect one leader. Delegates in Liverpool will choose between electing a sole leader or a collective of lay members – those not already serving as MPs or councillors
Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana’s Your Party reveals shortlist for official name
The leftwing party formed by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana has revealed a shortlist of names for its members to pick from: Your Party, Our Party, Popular Alliance and For The Many.Ahead of its first conference in Liverpool this weekend, the party is asking its 50,000 members to choose what it should be called, with the result to be announced by Corbyn on Sunday.It was temporarily named Your Party when launched over the summer, but the organisation has been beset by months of rows and infighting since then.There have been disagreements between Corbyn and Sultana over how it was launched and how money raised from members should be held.It also attracted other independent MPs including Ayoub Khan and Shockat Adam but two more MPs, Iqbal Mohamed and Adnan Hussain, have already quit amid persistent infighting and a struggle for power in the organisation
Former Ukip MEP denies taking money to promote Russian interests
A former leading member of the group of MEPs headed by Nigel Farage has denied taking money as part of a campaign to promote Russian interests.David Coburn, who was leader of Ukip in Scotland for four years, was responding after the jailing of his former colleague, Nathan Gill, on charges of being bribed by an alleged pro-Russian asset.Coburn, who was an MEP for Scotland between 2014 and 2019, was mentioned in WhatsApp messages between Gill and Oleg Voloshyn – a former Ukrainian MEP who is accused of the bribery – that were released by prosecutors.Gill was jailed last Friday for 10 and a half years for taking bribes to make statements in favour of Russia when he was an MEP. A prominent member of the Ukip and Brexit party groups, he had pleaded guilty to eight counts of bribery between 6 December 2018 and 18 July 2019
Woman jailed for harassing Rachel Reeves’s MP sister
A woman who tried to summon her MP, the solicitor general Ellie Reeves, to court has been jailed for harassment in London.Tracey Smith sent Reeves 22 emails and 10 voicemails calling her “transphobic” and accusing her older sister – the chancellor, Rachel Reeves – of physically assaulting her at a buffet bar.Smith, who is a trans woman, used phrases including “a person is dangerous when they have nothing to lose” and “bullets will be flying around”.The 58-year-old was jailed for 26 weeks and ordered to pay costs of £650 at Westminster magistrates court on Friday.District judge Michael Snow also ordered a restraining order without time limit to be imposed
Labour MPs to demand more concessions on workers’ rights after government climbdown
Labour MPs are preparing to demand further concessions on workers’ rights as the price of accepting ministers’ decision to ditch plans for day-one protection against unfair dismissal.MPs who are unhappy about the move will push for stronger protections in other areas, such as bogus self-employment arrangements, as part of Labour’s “make work pay” agenda.But the government looks set to get its amended employment rights package through the Commons despite backbench anger at the eleventh-hour compromise, which critics say breaches a Labour manifesto commitment.Ministers announced on Thursday that they were axing a plan to give workers the right to make an unfair dismissal claim against an employer from the first day in a new job. Andy McDonald, Neil Duncan-Jordan and Rachael Maskell have been among the Labour MPs to criticise the decision
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