Lesson video

Hello, my name's Ms. Powell and welcome to Computing.

I'm so pleased that you decided to join me here today.

In today's lesson, we're going to be learning about illegal content found online.

Let's get started.

Welcome to today's lesson from the unit Online Safety.

This lesson is called Illegal Content, and in today's lesson, we are going to recognise that some content online can be harmful and that within the UK, laws are in place to govern online content.

We are using these keywords throughout today's lesson.

Let's take a look at them.

The first word is law.

Law, this is a rule enforce by an authority.

The next word is online crime.

Online crime.

This means illegal activity carried out on digital devices connected to the internet.

This lesson is split into three sections.

In the first section, we'll look at identifying why some content online can be harmful.

In the next section, we'll match UK laws to the online content they govern, and in the last section, we'll discuss approaches to policing online spaces.

Let's start with the first section.

Identify where some content online can be harmful.

Identify where some content online can be harmful.

Can you think of some examples of content or activities that are illegal online in the UK? Pause the video and have a quick think.

What is illegal in the UK? Theft and cyber crimes? Theft encompasses buying and selling stolen items. Pirated content, forgery, identity and data theft.

Cyber crimes encompasses identity and data theft, hacking, and scams. Pirated content refers to the illegal copying and distribution of copyrighted material such as movies, music, software, and books without the permission of the copyright holder.

It's a form of copyright infringement that can have serious consequences, including legal penalties and financial losses for creators.

Pirate content is often accessed through legal streaming websites, file sharing networks, or modified devices.

Forgery is the act of falsely making, altering, or imitating a document signature or object with the intent to deceive or defraud others.

It is a form of fraud and can often involve creating fake currency, documents, or art.

The underlying purpose of forgery is typically to gain financial benefit, influence someone's opinion, or cause harm.

Identity theft occurs when someone uses another person's personal information without their permission to commit fraud or other crimes.

This can include stealing information like names, addresses, credit card numbers, and bank account details.

Identity theft often use this stolen information to open new accounts, make fraudulent purchases, or gain financial benefits.

Hacking involves gaining unauthorised access to computer systems, networks, or data.

It can be done for various reasons, including stealing sensitive information, causing damage, or disrupting services.

While hacking is often associated with malicious intent in cybercrime, it can also be used for legitimate purposes like security testing and vulnerability assessment.

Online scams are deceptive tactics used over the internet to treat individuals into giving away personal or financial information or stealing their money.

They can take various forms such as phishing, emails, fake websites, and social engineering techniques.

Social engineering is when scammers manipulate victims by using emotional appeals or creating a sense of urgency to trick them into giving away information or money.

What else is illegal in the UK? Graphic content and harassment.

Graphic content encompasses some violent videos, some types of pornography, child, revenge, non-consensual, and terrorism, and hate speech.

Harassment encompasses hate speech, cyber bullying, and grooming.

Illegal content or activities are not only against the law, but they can also cause harm to those involved.

You will now consider the impact of some of the online crimes identified.

Hate speech, speech or text that is prejudice against an individual or group.

Hate speech can, number one, cause upset, fear, or anxiety for victims. Number two, lead to hate crimes, e.

g.

property damage or violent threats.

Promote societal division.

Pirated content, downloading or streaming copyrighted content without permission of the copyright holder, which can result in, number one, access to age-inappropriate content.

Number two, being susceptible to malware.

Number three, fraud, by sharing bank details with unreputable companies.

Phishing emails, a fraudulent email disguises communication from reputable companies that ask the receiver to reveal personal information.

Phishing could result in, number one, financial loss or poor credit score.

Number two, identity theft, and number three, damage to someone's reputation.

Obscene content, content that is considered to be depraved or has a potential to corrupt potentially because it depicts illegal or sexually explicit acts.

It can, number one, damage mental health.

Number two, normalise abusive behaviour.

Number three, have a negative impact on healthy relationships.

Terrorist propaganda, materials which support, promote, or justify acts of terrorism, which can, number one, incite social unrest.

Number two, lead to violence of crimes, or number three, spread fear and disinformation.

Identify the possible impact of obscene content.

Is it, A, you might get a bad credit rating.

Is it, B, it has an effect on normal relationships, or is it, C, it promotes societal division? Pause the video and have a quick think.

Is it A, B, or C? The answer is B.

It has an effect on normal relationships.

Identify the possible impact of terrorist propaganda.

Is it, A, your identity could be stolen? Is it, B, you may receive financial losses, or is it, C, it incites social unrest.

Pause the video and have a quick think.

Is it A, B, or C? The answer is C.

It incites social unrest.

Reporting illegal online content.

We can all help create a safer online world by reporting illegal online content.

Depending on what kind of content you come across and where you find it, there are lots of different places you can report it to.

Illegal content on illegal website.

If you come across illegal content such as obscene content, copyright infringements, fraudulent messages, hate speech, harassment, et cetera, on a legal website, you can report the content to the website and they have to take it down.

Illegal content on a legal website.

If you are the target of the illegal content, for example, if you're being harassed, you should take screenshots of the illegal content in case you need them for evidence if you want to also report the crime to the police.

Illegal content on the legal website.

Most websites have a clearly signposted reporting mechanism that can be found of the features that allow you to share, like, or comment on content.

If you can't find a reporting mechanism, you should check the FAQ or About section of the site for advice.

This is Lucas, Lucas says, "How do I report content on websites I use frequently?" Sam replies, "Each platform will have its own mechanism for reporting.

You may need to click on the share button and then tap report or click options in the post and then select report." Other illegal content.

If the website you report to does not remove the illegal content, does not have a reporting mechanism, or is itself facilitating the illegal content, for example, websites created to host pirated films, there are lots of different places you can report it to.

You can see further details on the next slide.

Reporting illegal content.

Number one, you can report to the police via your local police station by calling 101 if the crime is not an emergency, and 999 if it is, or you can contact them online.

Number two, you can report a crime anonymously through Crimestoppers UK, either online or by phone.

Number three, you can report terrorists content to gov.

uk online.

Number four, you can report hate crime to True Vision online.

Number five, you can report sexual images involving young people to the IWF online.

I have a task here for you.

I'd like you to give it a try.

Task A, identify where some content online can be harmful.

Consider one type of illegal content identified in this lesson, then answer the following questions.

Number one, what is the type of content you have chosen? Number two, why can this type of content be harmful? Number three, how would you report this type of content? Number four, why do you think it's important to report any illegal content you find online? Pause the video to finish the task.

I'd like to give you some feedback.

Sam has thought about cyber bullying.

Cyber bullying can be really upsetting for the victims causing them anxiety and distress.

It often takes place on social media platforms, so I think the first thing to do would be to screenshot the comments, tell an adult and report it to the host platform.

People could block the user or even delete their account to stop further contact.

If things persisted or became more serious they could phone the police on one oh one and report it.

Why do you think it might be important to report any illegal content you find online? If people report any illegal content or activities they experience online, contents will hopefully be removed and activities stopped, then the people involved could be prosecuted.

This means that nobody else will have this experience in the future.

Some companies might even work to prevent similar things from happening.

Well done, that brings us to the end of the first section, identify where some content online can be harmful.

Let's move on to the second section.

Match UK laws to the online content they govern.

Which laws govern the internet? In the UK, we don't currently have one law that decides what is and is not illegal online.

Instead, something is illegal online if it is illegal offline or, it is included as an offence in one of the many pieces of legislation that govern the internet in the UK.

Let's look at some of those pieces of legislation.

Computer Misuse Act 1990.

The Computer Misuse Act 1990 makes it illegal to access or modify data without the owner's permission.

Not only does this legislation make it illegal to gain unauthorised access to data, it also makes it illegal to create tools that would allow others to commit this crime.

Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988.

This legislation is designed to give the creators of digital media control over who can use it and how.

Digital media covers everything from films and TV shows to software.

The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 says that any online content you create from a blog post or a photo you upload is automatically copyrighted and so cannot be used without your permission.

This means that how you use other people's digital media is also restricted.

Digital Economy Act 2017.

The Digital Economy Act 2017 governs electronic communications infrastructure, i.

e.

, the roles and responsibilities of service providers and who should be able to access what online.

Fraud Act 2006.

The Fraud Act 2006 describes the offence of fraud committed either through, one, false representation, two, failing to disclose information, three, abuse of position.

Fraud means criminal activities used for financial or personal gain.

The Fraud Act 2006 also makes it an offence to possess, make, or supply tools for fraud.

Malicious Communications Act 1988.

The Malicious Communications Act 1988 makes it illegal to send indecent or grossly offensive communications or communications that are threatening, false, or intended to cause distress to the recipient.

The communications could be in the form of an email, a direct message, a post on a public forum, et cetera.

Some of these offences are also covered by the Communications Act 2003, which makes it illegal to send messages via any public electronic communications network that are grossly offensive, obscene, indecent, or menacing in character.

Obscene Publications Act 1959.

This act outlines what is considered in UK law to be obscene and makes it illegal to create and disseminate this material.

The Obscene Publications Act 1959 was amended to specifically include sharing material in private online conversations, i.

e.

, it's illegal to share obscene content even if it is just between two people.

Serious Crimes Act 2007.

In the UK, serious offences include offences related to drug, human and arms trafficking, sex work, child sexual abuse, money laundering, fraud, corruption and bribery, blackmail, intellectual property offences, environmental crimes.

The Serious Crimes Act 2007 makes offences of this nature illegal as well as attempting, conspiring, encouraging, or aiding and abetting in a serious crime.

I have a task here for you.

I'd like you to give it a try.

Match the law to its purpose.

We have the Computer Misuse Act 1990, the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988, and the Digital Economy Act 2017.

The purposes are this law makes it illegal to access or modify data without the owner's permission.

This law governs electronic communications infrastructure, i.

e.

, the roles and responsibilities of service providers and who should be able to access what online.

This law is designed to give the creators of digital media control over who can use it and how.

Pause the video to finish the task.

Well done for giving that a try.

The Computer Misuse Act.

This law makes it illegal to access or modify data without the owner's permission.

Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988.

This law is designed to give the creators of digital media control over who can use it and how.

Digital Economy Act.

This law governs electronic communications infrastructure, i.

e.

, the roles and responsibilities of service providers and who should be able to access what online.

I'd like you to match these laws to their purposes.

We have the Malicious Communications Act 1988, Obscene Publications Act 1959, Fraud Act 2006, and Serious Crime Act 2007.

The purposes are this law covers serious offences such as trafficking of drugs, humans and arms, sex work, child sexual abuse, corruption and bribery.

This law makes it illegal to send indecent or grossly offensive communications intended to cause distress to the recipient.

This law makes it an offence to possess, make or supply tools for fraud.

And this law outlines what is considered in UK law to be obscene and makes it illegal to create and disseminate this material.

Let's check the answers.

The Malicious Communications Act 1988.

This law makes it illegal to send indecent or grossly offensive communications intended to cause distress to the recipient.

Obscene Publications Act.

This law outlines what is considered in UK law to be obscene and makes it illegal to create and disseminate this material.

Fraud Act.

This law makes it an offence to possess, make or supply tools for fraud.

Serious Crime Act.

This law covers serious offences such as trafficking of drugs, humans and arms, sex work, child sexual abuse, corruption and bribery.

Legislation matching exercise.

I have a task here for you.

I'd like you to give it a try.

Legislation matching exercise.

Based on the discussion of UK legislation, which types of online content is made illegal by which laws? Match the online content provided to the relevant legislation.

I'd like you to use this table.

The online content we have here is stolen credit card details, request for malware, homophobic hate speech, sale of hacking software, and harassing emails.

The laws are Computer Misuse Act 1980, Malicious Communications Act 1988, Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988, Fraud Act 2006, Digital Economy Act 2017, Obscene Publications Act 1959.

Cross-referenced the content with the UK laws and add a tick if you feel that it's made illegal.

I'd like you to try these pieces of content, social media messages impersonating someone else, phishing email, ransomware, unauthorised film streaming site, cross-reference this content with the UK legislation and have a think if it's made illegal.

And finally, I have this content here, cartoon shared without the artist's permission, extreme pornography, site sharing pornography without age restrictions, video of terrorist propaganda.

Cross-references this content with the UK laws in the table and add a tick if you think it's made illegal.

Pause the video to finish the task.

I'd like to give you some feedback.

Based on the discussion of UK legislation, which types of online content is made illegal by which laws? Stolen credit card details, request for malware, and sale of hacking software is made illegal by the Computer Misuse Act 1980.

Homophobic hate speech and harassing emails is made illegal by the Malicious Communications Act 1988.

Phishing emails and ransomware is made illegal by the Computer Misuse Act 1980.

Social media messages impersonating someone else and phishing emails are made illegal by the Fraud Act 2006.

Unauthorised film streaming sites are made illegal by the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988.

A cartoon shared without the artist's permission is made illegal by the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Extreme pornography is made illegal by the Obscene Publications Act 1959.

A site sharing pornography without age restrictions is made illegal by the Digital Economy Act 2017.

And a video of terrorist propaganda is made illegal by the Obscene Publications Act.

Fantastic.

You've done so well matching UK laws to the online content they govern.

Let's move on to the final section, discuss approaches to policing online spaces.

How do you police the internet? Pause the video and have a quick think.

We have lots of laws that govern what can and can't be shared online, but how are those laws enforced? Pause the video and have a think.

When enforcing laws, we have to consider, number one, who is responsible for enforcing the law? Number two, what powers they have? Number three, who is held accountable when a law is broken? Let's look at two different approaches to policing the internet.

User-centered approach.

In a user-centered approach, the responsibility for obeying the law falls under the creators and consumers of content.

This approach is often enforced by the police who target individuals for committing crimes.

The pros, number one, the people responsible for the supply and demand of the illegal content are punished.

Number two, laws act as a disincentive to creating or consuming illegal content.

The cons, number one, the creators of illegal content may be difficult to find or prosecute especially if they're in another country.

Number two, lots of people commit crimes related to illegal online content so this approach requires lots of resources.

Facilitator-centered approach in this approach, the responsibility for obeying the law falls on the hosts and facilitators of online content, i.

e.

, the websites and platform creators.

This approach is often enforced by regulatory bodies.

Organisation specifically created to monitor the activities of a type of organisation.

The pros, by taking down websites or apps, you can stop lots of crimes happening simultaneously.

Number two, incentivizing platforms to police themselves helps to share the resource burden of enforcing online content laws.

The cons, number one, it can be difficult to make large social media companies comply with the law.

Number two, approaches that target platforms not people can make the creators and consumers of legal online content feel immune from the consequences of breaking the law.

I have a task here for you.

I'd like you to consider the different scenarios provided over the next few slides and answer the following questions.

Who would be held responsible for the online content in, A, user-centered approach? Number two, facilitator-centered approach.

For each scenario, which approach do you think would be fairest and which would be most effective? Scenario one, a content creator uploads a video showing followers how to create a type of ransomware that can be used to extort victims out of money.

Who would be held responsible in a user-centered approach or facilitated-centered approach? Pause the video to discuss.

I'd like to give you some feedback on that.

Scenario one, a content creator uploads a video showing followers how to create a type of ransomware that can be used to extort victims out of money.

A user-centered approach, the individual uploading the video would be held responsible as they have created a tool that enables others to commit crimes.

A facilitator-centered approach, the website would be held responsible for allowing this content to be uploaded to the site.

This is Lucas, and Lucas says, "It would be fair for the user to be punished because the website would be unaware of the content being created.

However, if the website is monitoring its content well, it might be best placed to identify illegal videos.

All the website is really able to do to discourage users is delete videos, remove accounts, or restrict their ability to profit from adverts.

This might not prevent content creators who can just create new accounts and start uploading again, so it might not be very effective in stopping them." Scenario two, a social media group is used to share and discuss terrorist propaganda.

Who would be held responsible in a user-centered approach or a facilitator-centered approach? Pause the video to discuss.

I'd like to give you some feedback.

In a user-centered approach, the members of the social media group would be held responsible.

In a facilitator-centered approach, the social media company would be held accountable as they are implicated in terrorism.

Lucas says, "It might be unfair to hold the social media company responsible for terrorism, but they have developed a tool that allows individuals to communicate securely and could have anticipated its use in crime.

It is difficult for the police to identify and investigate users because the messages are encrypted.

I think the only way of policing the platform is through facilitated centred approach where the social media company removes terrorist-related content and users in order to avoid punishment." Scenario three, an anti-LGBT forum is created for users to share homophobic, biphobic, and transphobic content.

Who would be held responsible in a user-centered approach or a facilitator-centered approach? Pause the video to discuss.

I'd like to give you some feedback.

In a user-centered approach, the users of the forum could be held responsible.

In a facilitator-centered approach, the forum creator could be held responsible.

Lucas says, "This scenario is different from the other scenarios.

In this scenario, the facilitator has deliberately created a platform for people to break the law, so I think that a facilitator-centered approach would be fairest.

However, users of this platform should also be held responsible as they've looked for a space to participate in hate crimes.

Taking a user-centered approach and arresting users individually might be more effective and discouraged them from continuing to spread hate speech in the future." Well done.

This brings us to the end of today's lesson.

Let's summarise illegal content.

Some content online can potentially be harmful.

Some online content can be distressing or upsetting.

Some content is illegal to share or can be used to facilitate online crime.

In the UK, there are a number of laws that govern online content and online crimes.