[news release] 17 leading web firms have signed for the first time a European agreement to improve the safety of under 18s who use social networking sites. These include Arto, Bebo, Dailymotion, Facebook, Giovani.it, Google/YouTube, Hyves, Microsoft Europe, Myspace, Nasza-klaza.pl, Netlog, One.lt, Skyrock, StudiVZ, Sulake/Habbo Hotel, Yahoo!Europe, and Zap.lu. Social networking sites are an emerging social and economic phenomenon, attracting 41.7 million regular users in Europe and changing the way we interact with each other on the Web.”The Commission applauds this first European agreement on Social Networking. It is an important step forward towards making our children’s clicks on social networking sites safer in Europe,” said Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for Information Society and Media. “Social networking has enormous potential to flourish in Europe, to help boost our economy and make our society more interactive – as long as children and teenagers have the trust and the right tools to remain safe when making new ‘friends’ and sharing personal details online. I will closely monitor the implementation of today’s agreement and the Commission will come back to this matter in a year’s time.”Today, Europe’s major social networking sites have come together for the first time at this year’s Safer Internet Day to recognise their responsibility and identify potential risks on their sites for under 18s. These include cyberbullying (harassing children on internet sites or via mobile messages), grooming (when an adult befriends a child with the intention of committing sexual abuse) and risky behaviour like revealing personal information. They aim to limit these risks by:
- Providing an easy to use and accessible “report abuse” button, allowing users to report inappropriate contact from or conduct by another user with one click.
- Making sure that the full online profiles and contact lists of website users who are registered as under 18s are set to “private” by default. This will make it harder for people with bad intentions to get in touch with the young person.
- Ensuring that private profiles of users under the age of 18 are not searchable (on the websites or via search engines)
- Guaranteeing that privacy options are prominent and accessible at all times, so that users can easily work out if just their friends, or the entire world, can see what they post online.
- Preventing under-age users from using their services: if a social networking site targets teenagers over 13, it should be difficult for people below that age to register.
Social networking sites will inform the Commission about their individual safety policies and how they will put these principles in place by April 2009.Background:Today’s agreement is the result of discussions in the Social Networking Task Force set up by the European Commission in April 2008. This group brought together social networking sites, NGOs and researchers, and is a good example of industry self-regulation, an approach favoured by the Commission if effectively implemented.Similar initiatives in this area include the Social Networking guidance from UK Home Office of April 2008, and separate agreements between Myspace, and Facebook with 49 State Attorneys General in the United Sates.Safer Internet Day has been organised every year since 2004 and includes events in more than 50 countries in Europe and worldwide.Safer Internet Day 2007, on the initiative of Commissioner Reding, resulted in an agreement on safer mobile use by young teenagers signed by all major mobile operators (IP/07/139).A press pack containing the finalised agreement, a MEMO and an audiovisual clip on cyberbullying which will be broadcast on TV channels in the EU, Norway and Iceland as well as on the Internet can be found at:
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemlongdetail.cfm?item_id=4672
MEMO/09/58For more information
www.keepcontrol.eu
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/social_networking/index_en.htm This news release was sourced from:
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=4672Facebook, MySpace sign cyber-bullying pact [Reuters]
Seventeen social networking sites in Europe including Facebook and MySpace have signed a pact aimed at curbing “cyber-bullying” and protecting the privacy of underage users, the European Commission said.The Commission, the 27-nation EU’s executive arm, said the agreement will cut the risks of children harassing peers online and curb “grooming” – the practice of adults befriending children online with the intention of committing sexual abuse.
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2009/02/11/1234028079065.html
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2009/02/11/1234028079065.html
http://iht.com/articles/2009/02/10/technology/bully.4-427007.phpSocial networking sites sign teen-protection pact with EU
Facebook, MySpace and Google have signed a pact with the European Union to improve safeguards against the bullying and abuse of teenagers online.The EU said networking sites are currently used by some 42 million people in the bloc and warned that youngsters need to be protected from abusive behaviour.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/connect/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501833&objectid=10556133Social networking sites, EU ink pact on child safety online
The European Commission and a number of social networking sites have signed an agreement that they hope will help protect kids who use these services online. Though some believe the threat isn’t as big a deal as it seems, more and better privacy controls are always a good thing.
http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2009/02/social-networking-sites-eu-ink-pact-on-child-safety-online.arsSocial Networking Sites Sign EU Pact on Child Safety [IDG]
Seventeen social-networking Web sites including household names such as Facebook, Bebo and MySpace have signed a voluntary code of practice designed to stamp out online bullying of children and to inform kids how to protect their personal information, the European Commission said Tuesday.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/159290/.html