Facebook to improve online safety

SOCIAL networking website Facebook has responded to calls to step up online security by announcing measures to "transform" safety online.

The move means site users can report any unwanted or suspicious

behaviour directly to child protection organisations.

Responding to mounting pressure from the Government and parents to protect its 23 million UK users, the company is now redesigning its abuse reporting system so users can alert the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (Ceop) to any unwanted or inappropriate contact.

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Managers have also agreed to establish a new 24-hour police hotline, dedicated to helping with emergencies, investigations and prosecutions.

The internet giant has been criticised for defying calls to install a "panic" button on the networking site, and chiefs were urged to "turn words into action" following a four-hour showdown meeting in Washington DC on Monday with Jim Gamble, the UK's most senior official responsible for protecting youngsters online.

Though Mr Gamble said Facebook had not not agreed to his demands outright, he acknowledged the popular social networking destination was "one small step from doing the right thing".

Safety experts welcomed the measures, which are designed to give individuals greater control of their online safety.

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Independent child protection expert Mark Williams-Thomas termed the move a "considerable step forward in online safety" while Stephen Balkam, CEO of the Family Online Safety Institute, said the site was taking "a thoughtful, proactive approach to safety on the web".

"A co-ordinated approach providing the additional reporting to Ceop is clearly worthwhile, as is a dedicated phone line for law enforcement," said Mr Williams-Thomas.

"I firmly believe that education is key to keeping children and young people safe online and social networking sites need to show a commitment to work with both statutory and voluntary organisation to promote safety on the internet."

The new safety measures provided by Facebook will include a "safety centre" to supply parents, teachers, teenagers and police with improved resources.

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To back up changes, the site will invest another 5m in education and awareness.

It will also provide safety organisations with one billion advertisements on the site over the next two years to ensure users know what to do if they feel threatened.

Elliot Schrage, vice president of Global Communications and Public Policy at Facebook, said there was "no single answer" to making the internet safer.

But he added: "The investments and partnerships we've announced today – in direct reporting, in education and awareness, and in greater support for law enforcement – will transform social networking safety and security.

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"They represent the most comprehensive public-private safety initiative since social networking began in the UK almost a decade ago."

The company has now called on the Government to consider ways to share securely information about registered sex offenders with social networks.

They believe such collaboration could help prevent dangerous

individuals from accessing their services.

The meeting between Ceop chief Mr Gamble and senior Facebook executives came amid an increasingly bitter and public feud over the site's

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refusal to add the "panic" button to its most popular pages.

He said the button, which has cross-party political support in the UK and is backed by leading child and anti-bullying charities, should be given prominent use.

Last week, Mr Gamble claimed that Facebook had never passed a concern to UK police and that complaints about the site were increasing.

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