Facebook no objection to panic button - Government (From The Northern Echo)
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Facebook no objection to panic button - Government
2:57pm Thursday 18th March 2010 in
FACEBOOK has no objection in principle to installing an anti-paedophile panic button on its site, Home Secretary Alan Johnson said today.
Talks between Mr Johnson and the internet giant were called after the site was criticised in the wake of the murder of Darlington teenager Ashleigh Hall.
The schoolgirl was killed by convicted rapist Peter Chapman who posed as a teenager on the site and lured her to her death.
After he was convicted of murder, her mother, Andrea, attacked the site for not doing enough to protect youngsters from predatory paedophiles.
Following Ashleigh's death, The Northern Echo launched the Safety Net campaign to push for better education and legislation to protect young people on the internet.
Mr Johnson said representatives of the UK's Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) would meet Facebook representatives in Washington DC next month to discuss the issue.
Mr Johnson said he was pleased with the outcome of talks today.
In a statement he said: "We had a frank exchange of views in which I emphasised that including the CEOP abuse reporting button on their site has the potential to transform child protection - and that the company should put this above all other considerations.
"Facebook told us they have no objection to the principle of including the CEOP button on their site and that they have now agreed to a high level meeting with CEOP in Washington on April 12 to discuss this issue further.
"(Minister) Alan Campbell and I reiterated our view that Facebook must find a way to use this button. I am pleased that the meeting with CEOP is taking place and await the outcome with interest."
Comments(3)
grandmab
says...
1:29am Fri 19 Mar 10
maharg01
says...
8:50am Fri 19 Mar 10
A social network site is a asset to many kids of today as this is the only place they get any notice. Unfortunately the bad people also know this.
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Sardonicus says...
7:18pm Thu 18 Mar 10
I reiterate what I said on a previous news item on this topic.
Licensing, registering, monitoring, etc. None of this will work in the long term. The problem is not the Internet/Social Network sites. The problem has been around since we had 'pen-pals' decades before the 'net was even dreamed of. The fundamental problem is this: If you are going to meet someone you have never met before take someone with you, inform your parents/best friend of the date, time and venue and keep regular contact with home by mobile phone.
Unscrupulous individuals will always find a way to groom/coerce the vulnerable. Perhaps our high-pressure society is responsible for all these teens tagged with the epithet 'low self esteem' because we have systematically destroyed childhood by promoting early adulthood in most, if not all, teen publications. We have implemented a Nanny-State mentality which absolves them all of their need or desire to look after themselves. They believe they are safe in the knowledge that there is always someone else to blame if things go wrong.
Perhaps if Common Sense was to make a concerted comeback we might begin to get somewhere.
There is, of course, an obligation on parents to take an interest in what their children do. Sadly, there are some parents who are not overly interested as long as their off-spring do not interfere in their own lives. this, too, is a major contributor to the 'low self esteem' scenario.
Don't modify the Internet, modify the way you interact with it and the people on it.