Industry | 2009.11.18
Social websites 'fail to protect children'
Facebook and MySpace condemned for not installing tool for reporting abuse
How easy is it to report abuse on Facebook?
The head of a government body responsible for keeping children safe has criticised social networking sites for not doing enough to protect youngsters.
Jim Gamble, chief executive of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (Ceop), said sites such as Facebook and MySpace had "no legitimate reason" for not using a new tool for reporting abuse.
His comments came after Bebo introduced a "Ceop report" button for users to log abuse. Clicking on the tool, which appears automatically under users\' profile pictures, opens a window inviting victims to log "violations of Bebo\'s terms of service" – including bullying, hate speech and sexually explicit content.
The Ceop button was added across Bebo\'s website yesterday. As well as functioning as a bullying deterrent, the tool can be used to report inappropriate behaviour toward a child directly to specially trained Ceop officers.
Facebook and MySpace are yet to install the Ceop tool, and Gamble criticised such sites for not taking up the free service.
"I do not want my criticism to be taken as a swipe at the online industry," he said. "This is aimed specifically at social networking sites. They are creating a public space that attracts young people, children and adults, so they can make money through advertising."
"We applaud that but do not forget while you do that there is a responsibility, a duty of care, to the young and the vulnerable. We are here to help at a low cost, in fact, this is free, we are giving away this service. What cost can you put on child protection? I have seen the horrible aftermath of it."
Sir Hugh Orde, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, welcomed Bebo\'s decision to use the service and called for other websites to adopt it.
"This is an ideal opportunity to keep young people who use social networking sites as safe as possible while they are online," he said. "I can see no reason why other sites would not consider adopting the same approach and would encourage them to embed the Ceop report button for the benefit of all users."
A spokesman for Facebook, which has 300 million users, said safety was the "top priority" for the company, and that it had invested in "the most robust reporting system".
"We also work closely with police forces in the UK and around the world to create a safe environment," he said. Our teams are manned by trained staff in two continents giving 24-hour support in 70 languages."
The spokesman added that the company was "in dialogue" with Ceop, and looked forward to hearing about the Bebo\'s experience with the Ceop button.
Websites have been able to use the Ceop button for more than three years, but yesterday\'s move by Bebo is the first time a large social networking site has embedded it across all profiles.
Gamble said some sites had claimed technical issues for not using the button. It has also been suggested that sites do not want to lose advertising space.
"It is tiny and does not take up any significant real estate," Gamble said. "The bottom line is there is no legitimate reason for not taking it and placing it on a site."
For more information, please visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/nov[...]al-networking-sites-criticised
