Sir Sadiq Khan, who recently supported a ban on social media for children under 16, said: “I have consistently warned of the scourge of algorithms promoting hate, division and intentionally serving up both violent and misogynistic content.
“My Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) will coordinate a London-wide approach to tackling the scourge of online harms for young people, backed up with £5m investment to deliver a range of interventions.”
The mayor’s plans include:
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A “bystander de-escalation programme” to give youngsters the skills to intervene in disputes and prevent them turning violent
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Helping councils to better identify young people who have been harmed online and who may present a risk to others
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A training programme to help youth workers engage with young people online
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Mentoring for girls and young women who may be at risk of online abuse or violence
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Schemes to provide positive male role models to challenge masculine ideologies at school, at home and through football
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Training teachers and parents on how to better support young people online.
The VRU has previously introduced schemes to help young people build confidence in the online world, but these measures are more-wide ranging than ever before, City Hall said.
Susan Hall, leader of the Conservative group at City Hall criticised the mayor, accusing him of blaming social media for a rise in violent crime in London.
“Yet again he has commissioned ‘research’ to try to prove what he thinks, but this time he can’t even manage that – with his own press release admitting the data analysis didn’t find a statistical link between violent content online and physical violence off it.
“So of course his next step is to spend money on any number of flashy initiatives in the hope we all ignore that his failure to properly fund the Metropolitan Police means there are now fewer police officers in London than when he was first elected.
“I will be genuinely amazed if this funding makes any difference at all, but I’m sure Sadiq Khan will commission some more research to prove otherwise.”
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