July 13, 2010 by Mark Isle
In a new initiative to cut down child exploitation online, Facebook have announced that they will be implementing a form of ‘panic button’ on their social networking site. The new button has been designed to alert authorities should young children and teenagers who use the site feel under threat from sexual predators.
The button can be easily installed on the site, and gives a message to say that users are in control online, having successfully downloaded the protection application. If pressed, the application automatically reports instances of suspected grooming to both Facebook monitors and the UK Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP).
The new application has been developed in collaboration with CEOP, the agency responsible for hunting down sex offenders online. The agency first requested a service to alert against unwanted attentions last year. Facebook is the third online networking site to develop the button, following MySpace and Bebo, sites which are targeted more for younger users.
Facebook attracted negative publicity after a seventeen year-old schoolgirl was murdered by a known sex offender, having met through the social site. The crime created an outcry of police and users demanding stricter measures against online grooming. Since then, CEOP and Facebook have been collaborating to develop the application. The initiative will be supported by a new page aimed to attract younger users through music and celebrity news, which also highlights the importance of safety online.
The chief executive of CEOP commented: “Our dialogue with Facebook about adopting the ClickCeop button is well documented – today however is a good day for child protection. By adding this application, Facebook users will have direct access to all the services that sit behind our ClickCeop button which should provide reassurance to every parent with teenagers on the site.”
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