Lesson video

Hello, my name's Miss Willow, and I'm going to be your teacher for today's lesson.

Today's lesson is called Harmful Content Online and it fits into the unit Our Online Lives.

How do I report and find support for things I see online? During this lesson, we are going to be talking about crime and discrimination and some other sensitive topics too.

So for this lesson, we require you to have an adult with you.

If you don't have an adult with you at the moment, please come back to this lesson when you do have one.

And if you do feel worried or uncomfortable at any point during this lesson, it's really important that you stop the lesson and that you speak to a trusted adult.

Okay, let's make a start.

By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to describe different types of inappropriate or harmful online content and explain who you can go to for advice or support.

Before we get started with today's lesson, we need to go over some ground rules.

These help to make sure that everyone feels safe and comfortable during today's lesson.

First of all, Laura says that, "We need to listen to others." It's okay to disagree with each other, but we should always listen properly before we make any assumptions or before we decide how to respond to someone else.

When we disagree with someone, it's important to challenge the statement and not the person themselves.

Next, Andeep says that we need to respect each other's privacy.

We can discuss examples, but we shouldn't use any names or descriptions that could identify anyone including ourselves.

If we want to share a story, we can refer to someone as my friend.

This means that we're not going to give away any identifying information.

Next, Jacob says, "No judgment." We can explore any beliefs and misunderstandings that we have about a topic without fear of being judged by others.

And finally, Izzy says that we can choose our level of participation.

Everyone has the right to choose not to answer a question or to join in with discussion.

You should never put anyone on the spot.

We're now going to take a look at the keywords for today's lesson.

Our first keyword is inappropriate.

This is behavior or content that is offensive, harmful, or unsuitable for certain audiences.

Next, we have distort.

This means to change or twist something away from its normal or true form.

And finally, we have sextortion.

This is a form of bribery online, which involves the threat of sharing intimate images or videos in order to gain money or force a person to do something.

Today's lesson is split into two learning cycles.

Our first learning cycle is called, What is Inappropriate or Harmful Content? And our second learning cycle is called, Is Everything Online Real? Let's make a start on our first learning cycle, what is inappropriate or harmful content? The internet provides us with a wealth of information at our fingertips.

Luca says, "I go online to follow my favorite football team." Jun says, "I use the internet to find new recipes to try," and Sam says, "I go online to find instructions for how to make things." The internet can also be a great way to communicate with other people and to have fun too.

Alex says, "I go on the internet to video call my granddad in Australia." Izzy says, "I go on the internet to listen to music." And Sofia says, "I like playing games online with my friends!" Unfortunately though, some content on the internet is inappropriate, harmful, or upsetting.

Ms. Walsh says that, "Billions of people around the world use the internet every day.

This means that it's incredibly easy for content to be uploaded or shared online without it being checked first." Inappropriate, harmful, or upsetting content might include anything that encourages violence, aggression, or the use of weapons, promoting of hateful or discriminatory ideas, anything that encourages a person to cause themselves harm, anything that is sexually explicit in nature.

Some of this online content can lead to a distorted view of the world or even glamorize or normalize unhealthy or wrong behavior.

Let's do another check for understanding to see how you're doing.

Which of the following could be considered inappropriate content? A, a social media page of recipes, B, a video clip of discriminatory jokes, C, a webpage about a local sports team, or D, a website of harmful dares.

Which of those do you think could be considered inappropriate content? Pause the video, talk to the people around you, or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that B and D are correct.

A video clip of discriminatory jokes and a website of harmful dares would both be considered to be inappropriate content.

Well done if you said the same thing.

We're now going to talk a little bit about content inciting violence, aggression, or the use of weapons.

So this might include encouraging the use of aggression or violence against others.

Graphic footage of violence acts such as fighting or attacks, any material that glorifies or glamorizes the use of violence, for instance, terrorist viewpoints, and promoting the use of weapons such as knives or guns.

All of these are considered to be content inciting violence, aggression or the use of weapons, and that's considered to be inappropriate and harmful content online.

Police Officer Paula says that, "Many people believe that it's legal to buy weapons like knives online, but this is incorrect.

It's illegal to buy weapons online under the age of 18, and many weapons are banned altogether.

Buying weapons online underage can lead to serious criminal consequences." Adults over the age of 18 can purchase knives online, for instance, knives for food preparation or cutlery, but there are very strict checks in place.

An adult has to provide proof of their age at the point of purchasing the knives and upon delivery of the item.

This is to ensure that people are kept safe.

Let's do another check for understanding to see how you're doing.

I'd like you to decide if the statement is true or false.

It's legal to buy weapons like knives online.

Pause the video, talk to the people around you, or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that this is false, but why? You might have said that it's illegal to buy weapons if you're under 18, and many types of weapons are banned completely.

Buying them can lead to serious consequences.

Well done if you said the same thing or had a similar idea.

We're now going to talk about content promoting hateful or discriminatory ideas.

So this might include anything that insults an individual's characteristics.

For example, misogynistic viewpoints against women or girls, material that targets particular groups of people with the intention of causing harm or upset, including the use of memes, cartoons, or symbols, anything that supports the bullying actions of other people against groups or characteristics.

We're now going to talk about content encouraging other harmful behaviors.

So this might include advice about health from people with little or no medical expertise.

Material which promotes dangerous risk-taking behaviors or dares, and anything that encourages a person to intentionally hurt or harm themselves.

We're now going to talk about content which is sexually explicit in nature.

So in the UK, it's illegal for anyone to make, possess, or share child sexual abuse images, share or threaten to share intimate photos or videos without a person's consent, including deepfake images, to sell or distribute pornographic content to a child under the age of 18.

It's also illegal for anyone to show pornography to a child under the age of 18, including photos of sexual activity.

Let's do another check for understanding to see how you're doing.

Which of the following is an example of content promoting hateful or discriminatory ideas? A, a website giving unqualified medical advice, B, a video showing someone doing dangerous stunts, or C, a cartoon that makes fun of people with disabilities.

Which of those is an example of content promoting hateful or discriminatory ideas? What do you think? Pause the video, talk to the people around you, or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that C is correct.

A cartoon that makes fun of people with disabilities is an example of content that promotes hateful or discriminatory ideas.

Well done if you said the same thing.

The Online Safety Act says that social media companies and search engines must try to protect children and adults from harmful, inappropriate content.

They're supposed to remove inappropriate material when they find it.

However, some harmful content can still get through, which is why it's important to report it and tell a trusted adult as soon as possible.

We can use in-app tools to report and block harmful content.

So once the content has been reported, the service provider looks at the material and removes it if necessary.

However, this doesn't always work quickly and sometimes harmful content stays online even after being reported.

Most websites and social media platforms have a report button, and if we click it, this can give us the instructions that we need to report online content.

It's not your fault if you come across inappropriate content accidentally, and it's a good idea to tell a trusted adult straight away as you may want to talk about what you've seen and get support.

Sometimes when we ask a trusted adult for help though, we might not feel like we're heard, so we should keep asking for help until someone listens, even if this means speaking to a different trusted adult.

Let's do another check for understanding to see how you're doing.

This time I'd like you to decide if the statement is true or false.

We can use in-app tools to report and block inappropriate or harmful content.

What do you think, is this true or false? Pause the video, talk to the people around you, or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that this is true.

It's true that we can use in-app tools to report and block inappropriate or harmful content.

Well done if you said the same thing.

We're now moving on to our first practice task and well done for your hard work in this learning cycle.

I'd like you to match the examples of inappropriate content to the correct category in the table on the next slide.

So here are our examples of inappropriate content.

Video footage of a gang attacking people at a local place of worship, a meme which reinforces negative stereotypes about people with disabilities, photos of a person's genitals being shared around school without their consent, and a website containing articles that have harmful ideas about diet and weight loss.

And here's the table that I'd like you to complete.

Pause the video, and we'll go through the completed table in a few minutes.

Okay, let's see what your completed table might look like.

You might have said for content inciting violence, an example is video footage of a gang attacking people at a local place of worship.

An example of content promoting discrimination is a meme which reinforces negative stereotypes about people with disabilities.

An example of content encouraging other harmful behaviors is a website containing articles that have harmful ideas about diet and weight loss.

And finally, an example of sexually explicit content is photos of a person's genitals being shared around school without their consent.

This is illegal if the person is under the age of 18.

Well done if your completed table looks a bit like this.

We're now moving on to our second learning cycle and well done for your hard work in our first learning cycle.

This learning cycle is called Is Everything Online Real? The internet may contain fake content, which could lead to distorted ideas about what is real, such as heavily edited images.

So for instance, airbrushed or photoshopped photos of celebrities, fake news and misinformation.

So this is information that's untrue or factually incorrect.

Deepfakes: these are AI-generated images or videos which are designed to imitate a real-life person.

And finally, scams. These are an illegal way of tricking information or money out of someone.

First of all, we're going to talk about heavily edited images.

Ms. Walsh explains that, "When images are heavily edited, they may appear better than they really are.

Celebrities, influencers, and everyday people often use special software to change how they look in photos like making their teeth whiter, removing spots, or changing their body shape.

This can distort our ideas about appearance and make us feel pressure to look perfect in an unrealistic way." We're now going to talk about fake news and misinformation.

And David, who's a youth worker, explains that, "Fake news is not always created to cause harm, but it can still be dangerous.

For example, fake news about vaccines might stop people from getting important protection against illness.

Fake news can also spread hate against certain groups of people and distort what people believe is true.

It's not always easy to spot fake news, so it's important to check if information comes from a trusted source." We're now going to talk about deepfakes and Social Worker Natalie explains that, "New AI technology makes it easy to create fake videos or images that look very real.

These can show people doing or saying things that they never actually did.

This can distort our understanding of what really happened.

Deepfakes can also be used to create inappropriate images or videos of real people without their permission." We're now going to talk about scams. A common scam is a text like this saying, "Hi, it's me.

I've lost my phone.

Can you send me money to replace it?" Criminals may operate online scams, for example, using fake websites, emails, or messages to extort, which means obtained by force or threat, money or valuable personal information.

In this example, someone is pretending to be someone else in order to get money.

It can be tricky to spot a scam, however, it can help to ask the following questions.

Does this sound legitimate? Is the spelling or grammar poor? Do I know the sender? Is there a sense of urgency? If there's any doubt, it's important to stop and check with a trusted adult.

Let's do a check for understanding to see how you are doing.

Can you complete the missing words in the list of questions below? To help us spot a scam, we can ask: Does this sound blank? Is the spelling or grammar blank? Do I know the blank? And is there a sense of blank here? Where I've said the word blank, can you decide which word is missing? Pause the video, talk to the people around you, or have a think to yourself.

Okay, let's see what the missing words were.

The first missing word is legitimate.

The second is poor.

The third is sender, and the fourth is urgency.

This means that to help us spot a scam, we can ask, does this sound legitimate? Is the spelling or grammar poor? Do I know the sender? And is there a sense of urgency here? Well done if you've got this correct.

We're now going to talk about sextortion.

An example of what this might look like is a text like this.

"Send me that nude and money, otherwise I'll show people the photos I already have." This is an example of another type of scam called sextortion.

This involves one person pressuring another into sending sexual images or videos of themselves.

Once the intimate content has been received, the perpetrator threatens to share it unless more content or money is sent.

So let's answer the question, how might sextortion happen? So, sextortion often occurs over social media or other messaging services.

The conversation might quickly become flirtatious.

The perpetrator may send intimate content first, and it's important to remember that it's highly likely that they've sourced this randomly online or they've been sent it by someone else.

The victim might then be asked to send intimate content of themselves, and once sent, the tone of the conversation may become aggressive and demanding.

It's also highly likely that the perpetrator isn't the person that they say they are.

We're going to talk about support in this situation.

It's never your fault if any of these things happen to you.

If you experience sextortion, deepfakes, or other harmful content, talk to a trusted adult straight away.

Support is always available.

Many victims feel shame about what's happened, but remember that scammers and people who create this content are very manipulative.

If you're under the age of 18, and intimate content of you has been shared online, the NSPCC and the Internet Watch Foundation, often called the IWF, have a tool called Report Remove that can help get them taken down.

Police Officer Paula says that, "If you're under 18, you can report serious incidents like sextortion to the Child Exploitation and Online Protection, or CEOP.

Trusted adults can also report instances to the police or Action Fraud." Ms. Walsh says that, "Remember, you have the right to feel safe at all times, and this applies to online spaces too.

If you come across inappropriate content or become a victim of scams or fake content, speak to a trusted adult.

If you're not heard straight away, keep asking until you get the support that you need." Let's do another check for understanding.

I'd like you to decide if the statement is true or false.

Sextortion is the victim's fault.

What do you think, is this true or false? Pause the video, talk to the people around you, or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that this is false, but why? You might have said that sextortion is never the victim's fault.

It's important to remember that scammers are very manipulative.

If anyone is the victim of sextortion, they should talk to a trusted adult straight away.

Well done if you said something like this.

We're now moving on to our final practice task and well done for your hard work.

For the first part of this task, I'd like you to write one paragraph describing the different types of fake content online and what you can do about it.

In your answer, I'd like you to include the following: examples of fake content online and some simple steps on how to check content and avoid scams. Pause the video, and we'll go through a model answer in a few minutes.

Okay, let's see what you might have said.

Your answer might have looked like this.

There are many different types of fake content online that can give us a distorted view of the world.

Examples of fake content include heavily edited images that make people look unrealistic, fake news and misinformation that spreads false information, deepfakes that show people doing things they never actually did, and scams, including sextortion.

To stay safe, it's important to check if information comes from a trusted source and ask yourself questions like, does this seem legitimate? And, do I know the sender? Well done if your paragraph looked anything like this.

For the second part of this task, I'd like you to read the scenario and answer the following questions.

First of all, here's our scenario.

Jake, who's 12, was playing an online game when another player started chatting to him.

The conversation quickly became very friendly and personal.

The other person claimed to be a teenager and sent Jake what looked like a photo of themselves.

They then asked Jake to send a private photo back.

After Jake sent the photo, the person's tone changed.

They became aggressive and demanded money, threatening to share Jake's photo if he didn't pay.

I'd like you to answer the questions, what has Jake experienced and explain what this means? And I'd like you to answer the question, where should Jake go for support and advice? Pause the video, and we'll go through a model answer in a few minutes.

Okay.

Let's see what you might have said.

For the first question, what has Jake experienced and explain what this means, you might have said that Jake has experienced sextortion, a type of online scam where someone tricks a person into sending intimate content of themselves.

The scammer then threatens to share the content unless the victim sends more or pays money.

For the second question, where should Jake go for support and advice, you might have said that Jake should talk to a trusted adult straight away.

If he isn't heard the first time, he should keep trying with different trusted adults.

It's not his fault and he shouldn't feel ashamed of what's happened.

He could also use the Report Remove tool from the NSPCC and IWF to help get the image taken down from the internet.

As he's under 18 as well, he can also report it to CEOP.

Well done if your answers were anything like this.

We're now going to summarize the key learning from today's lesson.

In today's lesson, we've learned that the internet contains inappropriate content that can encourage violence, discrimination, harmful behaviors, or include sexually explicit material.

We've learned that this content can give us a distorted view of the world and make wrong behaviors seem normal.

Not everything online is real.

There's fake content like edited images, fake news, deepfakes and scams, including sextortion.

We've also learned that if you see appropriate content or experience something like sextortion, it's not your fault.

Tell a trusted adult and seek support to help make the internet safer for everyone.

In today's lesson, you might have found that you've got some worries or questions, and if you do, it's really important that you share these with a trusted adult.

There's also some resources on the screen that are there to help you too.

Well done for your hard work today.

I hope to see you again soon.