NICHOLASVILLE, Ky.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 8, 2023--

Half of adults who have conversations with strangers online do not check how old they are, research suggests. A survey of 2,558 people over the age of 16 for child protection charity the Lucy Faithfull Foundation found that a quarter of adults in the UK chat to people they do not know, with 55% not checking their age. The poll also suggested that one in 10 men (11%) over the age of 25 would not immediately stop the conversation if they discovered that they were talking to a child under the age of 16. Our message to all adults having online conversations with anyone under 16 is to be crystal clear about your boundaries and the law. These are your responsibility. Online sexual conversations with under-16s are illegal – no ifs, no buts, no excuses Donald Findlater, Stop It Now! The charity has warned that while it is not illegal for an adult to speak to a child online, any sexual communications are against the law and come with a potential two-year prison sentence. It runs a helpline Stop It Now! aimed at stopping offenders or potential offenders from abusing children. Director of Stop It Now! Donald Findlater said: “Our message to all adults having online conversations with anyone under 16 is to be crystal clear about your boundaries and the law. “These are your responsibility. Online sexual conversations with under-16s are illegal – no ifs, no buts, no excuses.” There can be many different reasons why people offend online, but there are no excuses. To prevent harmful and illegal behaviour and protect children, we must recognise these reasons and help people to stop the behaviour and ensure it stays stopped Dr Alexandra Bailey, Lucy Faithfull Foundation More than two-in-five (44%) of those surveyed said it could be difficult to determine what constituted online grooming, while more than a third (37%) said they would not know what to do if they caught someone having a sexual conversation with a child online. In the past two years, Stop It Now! has seen a 64% rise in the number of people getting in touch with concerns about their own or a loved one’s behaviour. Dr Alexandra Bailey, a psychologist for the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, said: “There can be many different reasons why people offend online, but there are no excuses. “To prevent harmful and illegal behaviour and protect children, we must recognise these reasons and help people to stop the behaviour and ensure it stays stopped.” Stopping online offending taking place in the first place is of course the ideal, and the Lucy Faithfull Foundation carries out an extremely important service in preventing this criminality Wendy Hart, National Crime Agency Wendy Hart, deputy director for child sexual abuse at the National Crime Agency, said: “We see first-hand the life-shattering effect these online interactions can have on victims, as well as the devastation this brings to the family of the perpetrator. “Stopping online offending taking place in the first place is of course the ideal, and the Lucy Faithfull Foundation carries out an extremely important service in preventing this criminality. “However, if you do go on to commit abuse, we will work relentlessly to ensure you are arrested and brought to justice. “You and only you will be responsible for the life-changing impact your offending has on the victim and your family.” The Stop It Now! helpline is available by calling 0808 100 0900 or online. – 2,558 adults over the age of 16 were surveyed online by Kantar between September 26 and October 2. Read More Businesses embracing generative AI but fear cyberattacks, survey finds Young Britons turning to AI chatbots for help with school and work – survey Police to trial use of drones as first responders to emergencies Apple to adopt system to improve texting between iPhones and Android devices ICO seeks permission to appeal against Clearview AI tribunal ruling Users of iPhones can now check bank balance from Wallet app

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An ancient egg-laying mammal named after Sir David Attenborough that was thought to be extinct is actually alive and well, scientists have proved. Attenborough’s long-beaked echidna, which is thought to have been around since the dinosaur era, was caught on camera by an Oxford University expedition to Indonesia. The spiky, furry, beaked creature has been described as a “living fossil” because of how long it has been walking the Earth, about 200m years. Until the video, scientists had relied on a dead, decades-old museum specimen of the creature, as evidence that it was still around. Dr James Kempton, who led the expedition, said: “I was euphoric, the whole team was euphoric.” “I’m not joking when I say it came down to the very last SD card that we looked at, from the very last camera that we collected, on the very last day of our expedition.” Dr Kempton said he had been in touch with Attenborough about the rediscovery, and that the broadcaster was “absolutely delighted”. The expedition also discovered new species of insects and frogs on the trip, which took them through previously unexplored stretches of the Cyclops Mountains, a steep, high-altitude area of Papau, Indonesia. Scientists were twice affected by earthquakes over the course of their expedition, and had to climb narrow ridges with cliffs either side, often in heavy rain. Dr Kempton added: “You're slipping all over the place. You're being scratched and cut. There are venomous animals around you, deadly snakes like the death adder. “There are leeches literally everywhere. The leeches are not only on the floor, but these leeches climb trees, they hang off the trees and then drop on you to suck your blood.” He said he hopes the rediscovery will help promote conservation efforts in the Cyclops Mountains. The species is not currently protected in Indonesia, and scientists don’t know how many there are. “Given so much of that rainforest hasn't been explored, what else is out there that we haven't yet discovered? The Attenborough long-beaked echidna is a symbol of what we need to protect - to ensure we can discover it.” How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel Sign up to our free indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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A Florida woman whose complaints led to school restrictions for a poem read at Joe Biden’s inauguration appears to have ties to several far-right groups, including the Ron DeSantis-supported Moms for Liberty and neo-fascist gang the Proud Boys. In a complaint requesting that her child’s school remove the books entirely, Daily Salinas claimed that The Hill We Climb – Amanda Gorman’s book-length version of the poem she read at the president’s inauguration ceremony – and several other titles contained references to critical race theory, gender ideology, “indirect hate messages,” and “indoctrination,” especially of socialism, according to documents shared by the Florida Freedom to Read Project. Her complaint prompted the school to restrict access to the book, along with The ABCs of Black History, Cuban Kids and Love to Langston. A school committee moved the books to the library’s middle school section, despite the books being recommended for younger readers. Ms Salinas told the Miami-Herald that she “is not for eliminating or censoring any books” but wants materials to be appropriate and for students “to know the truth” about Cuba. But she appears to have connections with or has expressed support for several far-right groups that have promoted sweeping restrictions against LGBT+ people and honest discussions of race and racism, according to a review of her social media history and online activity from Miami Against Fascism and The Daily Beast. In August 2021, she was photographed alongside Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio during a protest against Covid-19 protections in Miami-Dade schools. The following year, while wearing a Ron DeSantis T-shirt, she attended another rally organised by Proud Boys to support far-right activist Christoper Monzon, a 2017 “Unite the Right” rally attendee who was allegedly beaten while canvassing for Republican Senator Marco Rubio last year. Ms Salinas also was photographed posing with Mr Monzon and a small group of his supporters after his release from hospital. That same year, Ms Salinas also worked as a volunteer for the governor’s “Education Agenda Tour,” which promoted right-wing candidates in school board elections as part of his efforts to upend the state’s education system. Video from a Miami-Dade school board meeting in July 2022 appears to show Ms Salinas with the group Moms for Liberty disrupting the hearing to protest sex education textbooks that had previously been approved by the board. Footage shows police forcibly removing her from the meeting. Moms for Liberty, a right-wing group that emerged from protests over Covid-19 guidelines, has offered so-called bounties for reporting teachers who allegedly discuss “divisive topics” in schools, attacked The Trevor Project for supporting young LGBT+ people at risk of suicide, and launched a barrage of book challenges. The group has also won praise from Mr DeSantis, who appointed one of its members to a board that now controls properties operated by the Walt Disney Company for its massive Orlando park campus. The Independent has requested comment from the group’s Miami-Dade chapter. A review of Ms Salinas’ social media history includes a Facebook post calling the Proud Boys “los mejores”, or “the best.” “My Proud Boys,” she wrote in the post on April 2021, above a photo of Tarrio with other members of the group. In March of this year, she shared a Facebook post promoting the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” a fraudulent century-old piece of antisemitic propaganda. Ms Salinas appeared to have deleted the post after it was flagged by Miami Against Fascism on Twitter. She then posted an image of an Israeli Defense Force soldier with a caption reading: “People never seen this. I love my Jewish people.” “I want to apologize to the Jewish community,” she told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency on 24 May. “I’m not what the post says,” she added. “I love the Jewish community.” She also co-hosted a Spanish-language podcast – “Hablando Como Los Locos” – that published an episode with the caption “Learn more about Kanye West, his polemic, his message” on 5 December 2022. Four days earlier, the rapper appeared on Alex Jones’s InfoWars and praised Adolf Hitler. The Independent has requested comment from Ms Salinas. Mr DeSantis – who has entered the race for the 2024 Republican nomination for president – has ushered through sweeping laws to control public school education and lessons and speech he deems to be objectionable while characterising reporting on the impacts of such policies as a “hoax” and a “fake narrative” manufactured by the press. The state is at the centre of a nationwide trend of challenges against books and materials in libraries and schools, while the governor continues to falsely insist that no books have been banned as he launches his 2024 campaign. A trio of state laws enacted within the last school year include what opponents have called the “Don’t Say Gay” law, which prohibits classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in all school grades, and laws that restrict discussions of race or racism, and mandate how schools catalog books on their shelves. Taken together, teachers and schools have been forced to remove materials out of fear of facing legal action without clear guidance, or have faced an increase in threats and challenges from activists emboldened by legislation. Last week, Penguin Random House and several prominent authors and families filed a federal lawsuit against a school district where activists have challenged dozens of books, largely involving or written by people of colour or LGBT+ people. In Escambia County alone, nearly 200 books have been challenged, at least 10 books have been removed by the school board, five books were removed by district committees, and 139 books require parental permission, according to an analysis from free expression group PEN America. In Florida’s Clay County, at least 100 books were pulled off shelves after challenges from a single person, PEN America found. Read More Amanda Gorman ‘gutted’ after poem banned at Florida school The book ban surge gripping America’s schools and libraries The school librarian in the middle of Louisiana’s war on libraries

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