# DEEPFAKES

# A.I. INFLUENCERS

# PROJECT EVOLVE

# GOBUBBLE

# SNIPPETS

# IWF - NO SUCH THING

# DITTO

www.esafety-adviser.com

EDITION 21 - NOV 2019

Inthisedition

Foreword from

Alan Mackenzie

Welcome to Edition 21 of #DITTO

Hi there, I’m Alan Mackenzie.

I’m an independent consultant specialising in online safety, specifically within education to children, young people, schools and other organizations, and parents.

I ’m a strong believer that technology, for the most part, is neutral; behaviour is the most important aspect.

To understand behaviour, we have to be a part of children's lives in order to understand what they’re doing with technology and why.

We have to be curious and guide them to realise the wonderful opportunities that the online world gives to all of us, and be there to support them when they need it.

If you’ve been reading DITTO for a while, or if I have visited your school to talk to the students, staff, parents or governors, you will know that I always talk about technology in a positive, upbeat way.

Primarily this is because I’m a fan of technology and always have been, but also I don’t like to talk about the risks and issues without properly balancing the positive aspects too, particularly when talking to students who will simply switch off if all they hear is “danger, danger” type talks.

Whilst some of the risks and harms that we see are very serious, in the overall scheme of things the balance is firmly weighted towards the positive, meaning that the majority of children will take risks, that’s a part of growing up, but won’t come to harm.

But sometimes technology advancements come along which stop me in my tracks to re-evaluate my thinking. One of those advancements is deepfakes and (closely related in my opinion) artificial intelligence generated influencers.

I see no benefit with this technology, but I do see the potential for significant harm. I could be wrong, but only time will tell.

Alan

DeepfakesTechnology evolves at anextraordinary pace. That’s apre6yobvious statement,butdoesitalwaysevolveinawaythat is posi<ve and to thebenefit of all? I’m not sosure,andwhenitcomestodeepfakes I can see noposi<ve use whatsoever.Quitethecontraryinfact,I see this technologybeing used for verysignificant harm; it’salready been used insuchaway.

Itgoeswithoutsayingt ha t i f i t wa sn ’ t fo r

marke<ng and adver<sing we wouldn’t seethe online world as we currently do, and itcertainly wouldn’t be free or low cost as itcurrentlyis.

As an example,what is Google?You’d be forgivenfor thinking thatit’s a service thatp r o v i d e s y o uresults based on a search query. What isYouTube? It’s a service that allows you tosearch for and view videos on gazillions oftopics.

Those answers are correct, but first andforemostGooglesearchandYouTube,aswellas many other online services such asFacebook and Instagram are adver<singplaKormswhich serveuscontentbasedonamul<tudeofalgorithmicvariables.

So it’s no surprise that adver<sing andmarke<ngarealwayspushingtheboundariesof evolving technology to reach biggeraudiencesinordertosociallyengineerusintopurchasingsomething.

The ability to manipulate images has beenaround for a long <me; as a photographer I

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use photo manipula<on to enhance images allthe<me,muchlikehistoricdarkroomtechniquesbut in a digital form, such as removing skinblemishes in a portrait, biscuit crumbs fromaround the mouth of a dog, or enhancing asunsetinalandscapephototomakeitlookmoredrama<c.

More recently we’ve seen apps that can faceswap;thesearemostlyusedforabitof funbutequally we’ve seen them being used forinappropriatepurposestoo,suchasbullyingandsextor<on.

Butthisisnothingcomparedtodeepfakes;we’reat a whole new level of abuse and when thistechnologybecomesmoremainstreamandquitefranklyI’mworried.

Imaginefindingavideoofyourselfstarringinanx-rated movie where your face has beensuperimposed onto someone else and it looksunbelievably realis<c, but not only your face,yourexpressionsandyourvoicetoo.

Welcometodeepfakes.

Thisisawholenewleveloffakery;throughdeeplearning, computers can generate convincingrepresenta<ons of something that neverhappened. Tradi<onally the technology neededlargequan<<esofhighqualityimagesbutearlierthis year Samsung announced that their AIsystem could produce deepfakes with just one

photo. How difficult is it to find a photo of anindividual online? And it isn’t just the visualaspect, it’s audio too, and this adds a furtherdimension of reality. But it doesn’t stop there,thetechnologytodetectdeepfakesisalongwayoff.

AccordingtomanyonlinesourcessuchasWiredand The Economist, the term deepfake firstappearedonaReddit forum in2017. Itwas theusername for a personwhowasproducing fakevideos of female celebri<es having sex. Whilstthe account was eventually removed fromReddit,alothashappenedintwoyears.

During June and July 2019, a company calledDeeptrace carried out a study finding almost15,000 deepfake videos, of which 96 percentwere pornographic. All the videos were ofwomenandmanyofthesehadmillionsofviews.Thisistwiceasmanyassevenmonthsearlierandhorrifyingly they also found deepfake forumswhere users are discussing and reques<ngdeepfakes of women they know, e.g. ex-girlfriends.Thisisaviola<ononsomanylevels.

There’s a lot of talk around deepfakes in themedia, but this is mainly from a poli<calperspec<ve rather than child protec<on,specifically in regards to concerns over theforthcoming elec<on. I understand the electoralconcerns,buttheimplica<onsforyoungpeople,especially girls, are far-reaching and poten<allylifelonglas<ng.

Sadly we’re living in a world where wehave to mistrust everything we see andhearonlineun<lwecanproveotherwise.

Youhavegottowonderatthemoralsandethics of the companies that are forgingahead with developing this technologywithout a single thought to thepoten<alfor nega<ve implica<ons. There’s a lot oftalk about ‘safety by design’ at themoment and I would have to agree;companiesneedtobeworkingtoamoralcode of conduct and hopefully (elec<onnot withstanding) we might start to seesomeac<onwhen (if!) theOnlineHarmsBillisbroughtintolaw.

So how can we start talking about thiswithchildrenandyoungpeople,whetherinschoolorathome?

Personally I would be introducing it as atopic for discussion and debate in orderthat the posi<ves (if any) and the

nega<vescanbeopenlydiscussed.Withinthisyoucould introducehoweasy it is tofind photos of people online (digitalfootprint), the ethics of companiesdevelopingandusingthistechnology,therightsof the child;whatwould ‘safetybydesign’looklikeinthiscase?

To see deepfake in ac<on, search onYouTube for the following (these are notexplicit):

• Obamadeepfake• Zuckerbergdeepfake

And to see a really good explainer videosearch on YouTube for the TED video,‘Fake videos of real people’ by SupasornSuwajanakorn.

Alan Mackenzie

Theonlycourseofitskind;uniqueandengaging.

Keepingyou,yourstaff,governorsandparentsuptodate.

A1-dayupskillingcourseforyouronlinesafetyleadcoveringarangeoftopicsincluding:

• Risksandopportunitiesrelatedtogaming,YouTubeandsocialmedia.

• Wholeschoolapproachtomanagingonlinesafety.

• Engagingchildrenandparents.• Bestfreeresourcestouseintheclassroom

• andmuch,muchmore.

PLUS:Unlimited12monthsaccesstoonlinetrainingfor:

• Allteachingstaff.• Allsupportstaff.• Allgovernors.• Newjoinersduringthe12months.

• Plusaregular10-minutevideotokeepallyourstaffrightuptodate.

ThecourseisdeliveredbyAlanMackenzie

27thJanuary2020-London23rdApril2020-London

For more information:

http://www.esafety-adviser.com/onlinesafetypro

CallofDutyModernWarfarewasreleasedmidNovember.Itisthelatestreleaseinalongline-upofmassivelypopulargamesandgivenitspopularityit’snosurpriseI’malreadytalkingtoYears4,5and6(8-11yearolds)inschoolswhoareplayingit.

As you would expect given the age ra<ng of 18 it can be reallyviolent;itincludesterrora6acksinPiccadillyCircusandchildsoldiersintheMiddleEast.

Thesetypesofgamesareolencontroversialandtherewillalwaysbe different opinions about the content and realism, but thebo6omlineisthatthegameisrated18forareason.

Parents-checkgamessemngsondevicessothatyourchildrencan’tdownloadthesetypesofgameswithoutyourpermission.If youdon’t knowhowtocheck semngsonpar<culardevices,

gototheInternetMa6erswebsiteforguidance.

SNIP

PETS

I’montheroadalotandenjoylisteningtopodcastsonthoselongjourneys.Anot-to-be-missed podcast is from the SafeToNet Foundation which focuses onsafeguardingchildrenintheonlinedigitalcontext.Coveringtopicssuchascyber-abuse,bullying,sexting,wellbeingandmuchmoreitisawonderfulfreeresourcetokeepuptodateonmanyissues.

https://safetonetfoundation.libsyn.com/

InstagramLikes - Inabid to improve thementalhealthandwellbeingofyoungpeopleandadults,Instagramistestinghidingtheamountoflikesausergetsonapost.The thoughtprocess is that itwill allowusers toconcentrateoncontent rather thanacompetitionforlikesakintoavalidation.The testinghasbeenongoingsince2018butwe’re justabout tosee ithere in theUKaccordingtorecentreports.Unsurprisinglyinfluencersareupinarmsaboutthis,worried

thattheywilllosefollowersandthereforeincome.Personally I’m on the fence at themoment. It is only the accountfollowersthathavethelikeshidden,thepersonpostingthecontentwillstillseetheamountoflikes.Timewilltellifthishasanypositiveimpactsowe’lljusthavetowaitandsee.

Youwillhopefullybeawarebynowof theUKCouncil for InternetSafety (UKCIS) -Educa<onforaConnectedWorldframeworkwhichcameoutearlyin2018andtheguidance from DfE ‘Teaching Online Safety in Schools’ which makes mul<plereferencestoEFACW.Theframeworkisn’tjustaboutonlinesafety,itconsidersmuchmoreunder8strands(and330statements)ofonlinelifeforeveryyeargroup:

SelfimageandIden<ty.

ManagingOnlineRela<onships.

OnlineReputa<on.

OnlineBullying.

ManagingOnlineInforma<on.

Health,WellbeingandLifestyle.

PrivacyandSecurity.

CopyrightandOwnership.

Youmay bewondering, “Howdo I plan to cover all of that?”Help is here; SouthWestGrid for Learninghavebeenworking<relessly for some<me todevelop thefreeresourcestoassistyouandbythe<meyoureadthis,thefirst4strandsshouldhavebeenreleasedwiththefinal4tocomeinearly2020.

ThetextonthefollowingpageshasbeenreproducedwiththepermissionofSouthWestGridforLearning.

FOR

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OLS

projectevolve.co.uk

What is Project Evolve?

ProjectEVOLVE resources each of the 330statements fromUKCouncil for InternetSafety's(UKCIS) framework “Education for a ConnectedWorld” with perspectives; research; activities;outcomes;supportingresourcesandprofessionaldevelopmentmaterials.

This vast library of content is managed by aninnovative new engine, designed by the brilliantSWGfLWebteam, thatnotonlymakesnavigatingthe content intuitive but allows users topersonalisethecontenttheycollate.

Just need a research summary on a topic?Whataboutalessonplanwithstimulusquestions?Howabout activities for pupils and students?Professionaldevelopmentmaterialsforyourstaffatthepressofabuttonorscreentap.Ithasbeendesignedwithcustomisationand blexibilityat itsheart.

The vibrant new content has been written by ateam of experts here at the UK Safer InternetCentre.It’suptodate;relevantandengagingandmovesonlinelifeeducationintothethirddecadeofthe21stcentury.

WhyProjectEvolve?

We bind ourselves in aworldwhere informationdrivessocietyandformanymediabusinesses,it’sa valuable commodity. Navigating this complexlandscapeisdifbicultatbest.Manyofbindourwaythrough this tangle of information through trialand error; forging our own unique path andlearningaswego.However,aswehaveseenonlytoooften,someofthoseerrorshavethepotentialtoleadtoharm.

It’s no accident that Media Literacy; DigitalLiteracyandCitizenshipareakeyelementoftheUK Government’s Online Harms white paper.Amongst a raft of other regulatory measures,Media Literacy education threads itself through

the whole strategy. But what does good digitalliteracyeducationlooklike?

Eight years ago there was no Snapchat; noTikTok;no5G;noCambridgeAnalyticaandwhowouldhavethoughtwewouldbeworryingaboutfake news across the whole media landscape?Ransomwarehadn’t raised its ugly head and theprospectofdeepfakeshadn’temerged.

Gaming had not yet experienced the onlineascendancy of GTA V or Call of Duty and ‘BlueWhale”wasstillsixyearsaway.

Gradually, Digital Literacy becamemore difbicultto update and less relevant each passingmonth.Timeforarethink!

• SelfImageandIdentity:shapingonlineidentities and how media impacts ongenderandstereotypes.

• Managing Online Relationships:relationships and behaviours that maylead to harm and how positive onlineinteraction can empower and amplifyvoice.

• Online Reputation: strategies tomanage personal digital contenteffectivelyandcapitaliseontechnology’scapacity to create effective positiveprobiles.

• OnlineBullying: strategies foreffectivereporting and intervention and howbullyingandotheraggressivebehaviourrelatestolegislation.

• Managing Online Information: offersstrategiesforeffectivesearching,criticalevaluationandethicalpublishing.

• Health, Wellbeing and Lifestyle:understanding negative behaviours andissuesamplibiedandsustainedbyonlinetechnologies and the strategies fordealingwiththem.

• Privacy and Security: behavioural andtechnical strategies to limit impact onprivacy and protect data and systemsagainstcompromise.

• Copyright and Ownership: protectingpersonalcontentandcreditingtherightsofothersaswellasaddressingpotentialconsequencesofillegalaccess,downloadanddistribution.

Whilst the framework is clear and builds on prior learning, professionals are left to their owndevices in interpretingstatementsandplanning lessons,activitiesandoutcomes.Andthere’ssomuchofit!

Havingbeenattheheartoftheframeworksinceitsinception,ProjectEVOLVEhasbeendevelopedto compliment theUKCIS framework and support all thosewhoworkwith children and youngpeopletobringthosestatementstolife.

ProjectEvolvePrinciples

UKSafer InternetCentrehadworkedwith theUKCISEducationgrouptocreate the framework“EducationforaConnectedWorld”releasedbyUKCISandUKgovernmentinFebruary2018.Thiswas a radical refocus onwhat our expectations and the outcomes should be for children andyoungpeoplewheneducatingandsupportingtheirlivesonline.

The framework is challenging, relevantanddetailedwithover330 statements coveringanagerangefrom3yearsoldrightupto18.Eightstrandscoverallaspectsofonlinelife:

projectevolve.co.uk

InEluencers

Increasingly we’re seeing a rise in so-calledinfluencers, usually described as somebodywho has established credibility in a specificindustryorgenre,e.g.make-up,toys,gamingetc. Many of these influencers are genuine,down to earth people who simply want tosharegoodadviceandmakeanhonestliving.However, for us parents and schoolprofessionals the clue is in the name,influencer: a person with the ability toinfluence poten<al buyers of a product bypromo<ngorrecommending items.Equally itmay be to influence a behaviour such ascarryingoutachallenge.Aswithanythinglikethis,therearethegood,thenotsogood,andthosethatwishtoexploitchildren.

Commonlywhen speakingwith children, themost-watched genres of videos tend to behow-to’s, gaming, challengesandgeneral funvideos such as ‘try not to laugh’. But also,videos about their hobbies such as slime,horse riding, gymnas<cs andmuchmore.On

social media ittends to be theirf r i e n d s a n dc e l e b r i < e s o rinfluencers.

These influencers are aware of this and willtarget childrenwith themostpopulargenresin order to increase engagement such asviews, likes, comments and ul<matelysubscribers. The purpose is simple; moreengagement means more ad revenue andpoten<ally revenue from sponsors for thingssuchasproductplacement,men<ons,reviewsetc. and whilst the various social mediaoutlets require channels to be clear whensomething is being adver<sed, the reality isthatmanyof these influencersdon’tmake itclear.

Thisisanunderstandableconcernforparents,however in my experience speaking withchildren, they’re pre6y clued up when itcomestothisformofadver<sing,olenusingstatementssuchas,“They’rejusttryingtoselltheirmerch(meaningmerchandise).”

There’sanothersidetothisalso;youmaywellhaveseeninthemedia inthelastfewweeksreferences to ‘sadfishing’. I’ll cover this inmore depth in another edi<on, but simplyspeaking it’s being described as a newphenomenaonlinewherepeoplearepos<ngthingssuchas,“mylifeisterrible,”“I’mhavingsuchabadday,”“noneofmyfriendslikeme,”andthelistgoeson.

Suffice to say this isn’t new, it’s normalbehaviour which just happens to be sharedonline, but there arepoten<al consequencessuch as offenders capitalising on thevulnerabilityandusingthattogainfriendshipandtrustwithachild(grooming).

Sadfishing became prominent a couple ofyears ago when a very well known celebritywas pos<ng on social media about some ofthe troubles she was going through, butwithoutgoingintoanydetail,andsta<ngthata big announcementwas coming. Basically itwas clickbait; keep the details out, get therumoursgoing,increasetheengagement.

Aler a couple of weeks, the announcementwas finally made. The celebrity was talkingabout thedifficul<esshe facedasa teenagerwith her skin; a problem that almost everyteenager goes through and it can be a verydifficult <me for some. But what wasn’t soobvious was that this celeb had gone intopartnershipwithaskincarecompanyandwasbeing paid huge amounts ofmoney! Brilliantmarke<ng,ques<onablemorals.

Butas<memovesonandtechnologyevolves,so does theway inwhich that technology isbeing used, for example AI (ar<ficialintelligence) and CGI (computer generatedimagery). You may have read the previousar<cle about deepfakes, where images ofindividuals (usually female celebri<es) aremapped onto the face of an adult (sexual)performer.

These videos are concerningly realis<c, it’svery difficult to tell that they’re fake. Butwithin CGI we’re also seeing a rise in fakeinfluencerstoo.Forexample,takealookat‘LilMiquela’onYouTubeorInstagramwhereshe

has 1.6 million followers. It isn’t difficult tosee thatMiquela is computergenerated.Youmaybeforgivenforthinkingtheimagesareofa real person and filters have been a li6leover-used, but the videos clearly show thatit’s CGI if you look carefully. What’s more,adver<sing agencies are using the likes of LilMiquelato‘influence’theirproducts.

YoumightbeaskingwhyuseCGI?Therewillbe many reasons, but cartoons have alwaysbeenusedinthepasttoengagewithchildrenand young people, this just seems to be amodern version of that, albeit amuchmorerealis<c version, for example LilMiquela hasmademusicvideos,hashungaroundwithrealcelebri<esandwasevenvotedasoneof thetop25mostinfluen<alpeopleontheInternetinJune2018byTimemagazine.

Alongwithdeepfakes,this isa levelof fakerywe haven’t seen before, and there aremoreand more AI influencers out there who areeven interac<ng with each other. It’s mindboggling.We’reonlyjustgemngtogripswithteaching children about fake news and nowwe’vegotthistocontendwith.

Sohowdoweteachchildrenwhatisrealandwhatisn’torvirtual?”.

A lot of it comes down to simple cri<calthinking, the same logic we apply into anyarea of our lives; we ask ourselves simpleques<ons,suchas:

• Whatisthepurposeofthisimage/video?

• Is there a point to the video, image, ormessage?Aretheytryingtoinfluenceyouinsomeway.

• Isitopinionorfact?

• Whyaretheytalkingaboutthisproduct?

• Does it say something l ike ‘paidpartnership’ or ‘in partnership with….’abovethevideoorimage,orsome<mesinthetext?

To seeamore in-depthexplana<onabout LilMiquela, search on YouTube for a video byColin and Samir called ‘LilMiquela Exposed’.It’squiteeye-opening.

Alan Mackenzie

Safer, healthier, kinder social media experience GoBubble has revealed its 2020: Year of DigitalWellbeinginitiative,designedtosupportchildrens’onlinewelfare.

The socially responsible brand is calling upon schools, digital allies and friends to declare theirsupportforthedigitalwellbeingofkidsacrosstheworld,bysigninguptoanonlinepledge.

Supporterswillreceivelearningresources,informationandabadge!

Tobindoutmore,orcommityoursupporttoGoBubble’s2020:YearofDigitalWellbeingprogramme,visit:

https://gobubble.school/channel/digitalwellbeing

I’veseenparentsuseit,I’veseenteachersuseit,I’veseensafeguardingleadsuseit,butmostofallit’sthemediathatis,byfar,theworstoffenderandshouldknowbetter.Idespisethephrase,itmakesmecringeeverytimeIhearitbeingused.

TheIWFarecampaigningforanendtotheuseofthephrase‘childpornography’.Pornographyispornography;theuseofthewordchildimpliesconsentandyet,astheIWFcorrectlystate,childrencannotbecomplicitintheirownabuse.

TheIWFareaskingallofustotakeactionandspreadtheword.Seethelinkformoreinformation:

https://www.iwf.org.uk/nosuchthing

DOING IT TOGETHER

Acoupleofweeksago Iwasspeakingtosomechildrenin a class about messaging and no<fica<ons, amongstotherthings,andonechildwasclearlyupsetthatwhenshe sent a message to her friends (usually to aWhatsApp group), she could see the double <ck

(deno<ngthemessagehadbeenreceivedandread)buttherewasnoimmediaterepliestohermessage.

Thestatementfromthechildcameoutofnowheresoitwas something that hadobviously beenplayingonhermind for some<me,but it did allowus tohave a chat

andputherconcernstorest,suchaspeoplecan’talwaysreplyimmediately.

Theredefinitelyseemstobeasenseofimmediacyand it isn’t justwith children. I’ve done itmyself,send a message, see the <ck that it has beenreceived, sit there with fingers drummingwondering why the person is ignoringme?WhathaveIdone?AmI introuble?I’msuretheremustbesomepsychologicaltheorybehindthis.

Inthesameconversa<onthechildrenweretalkingabouthowmanymessagestheyreceiveovernight,some<meswai<ngtobeansweredinthemorning,some<mesansweredduringthesmallhours.Thesenumbers (of messages) are up in the hundreds,with some children saying it makes them feelanxious, that they feel pressurised to respondimmediately.Otherssay itdoesn’tbotherthematall.

Havea chatwith your child.Howmanymessagesdo they get each day, do they feel pressurised toanswer,evenduringthesmallhours?Isthishavinganeffectonwellbeing?

Notifications and Immediacy

RESOURCES FOR PARENTS

I’mquiteoftenaskedwhatthebestresourcesforparentsare.Notaneasyquestion toansweras itwoulddependonwhatyourconcernsare,yourlevelofknowledge,oraparticularriskthatyouwouldlikemoreinformationon.

Beloware4ofwhatIbelievetobethebest,currentanduptodateresources.

CommonSenseMediaTo learnmore about the games or appsyour children are using, Common SenseMedia covers thousands,which includesadviceandreviewsfromotherparents:

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/

InternetMattersTons of age-specific related informationcreatedspecifically forparents. Includesinformationtosetupdevices.

https://www.internetmatters.org/

YouTubeWithover5.5billionvideos, ifyouneedto know something there’s a goodchance it’s here. Use simple searchessuchas,“Whatis…”“HowdoI…”

https://www.youtube.com

SchoolTheschoolyourchildgoestoisawealthofinformation.Ifyou’renotsureordon’tknowwheretoturnto,theycanandwillhelp.Findoutwhatwhatyourchilddoesinschoolaboutonlinesafetysothatyoucanreplicatethesameadviceathome.

Contribute to the magazine I’m always on the lookout for great content to share with schools and parents, but I also know that people have their own individual stories to tell. This information can be hugely beneficial for everybody.

• Are you a parent who has experienced something with your child? What was it and what did you do? Has your child experienced something and would he/she like to share their advice with others?

• Are you a school that has experienced a series of incidents? How did you tackle this? Do you have an innovative way to engage with specific online safety topics in the school?

• Do you have an opinion or a thought-provoking idea?

Drop me an email and let me know your thoughts. Everything can be kept anonymous if you wish.

Alan Mackenzie

alan@esafety-adviser.com

www.esafety-adviser.com