European children to be ‘protected’ online

Thu 12 February 2009 11:18, Editors

This Tuesday the European Commission announced the agreement seventeen big internet firms reached to protect European children from abuse on social networking sites.

Companies like Google, Facebook, MySpace and Yahoo Europe joined forces and will start putting a “report abuse” button on their websites. By clicking the button under aged children (those below the age of 18) can report inappropriate contact or conduct.

Another measure that is being taken by the social media-sites involved is that profiles and contact lists of those under 18 will be automatically set to ‘private’. That way it will be harder to get in touch with them for those who don’t know them. These pages will not be indexed by search engines to make them not reachable through that way.

The measurements agreed on will be introduced by this april.

Pushed by the European Commission the companies decided to join forces to make a pact against cyberbullying (the harassment on Internet and mobile by other children) and grooming (adults trying to become ‘friends’ with children).

The companies involved are 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.

<Green thinking at Google

Keyword discovery with Google tools>

Comment

Google+ Updates Announced

Fri 17 May 2013, Seema Sanghavi

0 comments

Google+ updates were another big topic at the annual Google I/O Conference. The updates have been in effect since Wednesday. In total 41 new features have been added t...... read more

Instagram is So Last Year! Now I...

Wed 15 May 2013, Vitto Christaldi

0 comments

Instagram is So Last Year! Now It's Time for Vine to Shine!

Have you heard about an app called Vine? Vine is an iOS app that works like Instagram; but instead of sharing old-school-effect-photos, you share short cool (or silly)...... read more

Crowdfunding to Eliminate Silico...

Tue 14 May 2013, Seema Sanghavi

0 comments

Crowdfunding to Eliminate Silicon Valley Poverty

Many of us think of the Silicon Valley as a hub for all things technology, however, most people are not aware of a lingering problem in the area, poverty. According to...... read more

Reddit Issues Apology to Wrongly...

Tue 23 Apr 2013, Seema Sanghavi

0 comments

Reddit Issues Apology to Wrongly Accused

After any tragedy, I believe it is quite normal for people to look for answers and try to find those responsible. However, sometimes innocent people are falsely accuse...... read more