EU and social networks form anti-bullying pact

The European Commission and 17 social networks in Europe have agreed a pact to protect teenagers and children from cyber-bullying and breaches of privacy. The commission says the agreement will help protect under-18s from harassment and the ?grooming’ of children by adults for sexual abuse. Members of the European Parliament recently voted to criminalise grooming across the EU.

Signatories to the pact include Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, Google and Microsoft Europe.

The pact requires sites to provide a simple and accessible ?report abuse? button and set under-18s’ profiles to private by default ensuring they are not searchable either through the network or search engines. They must also ensure privacy options are prominent and accessible and do more to prevent those not meeting the network’s age restrictions from joining.

The network operators vow to implement the requirements by April.

Viviane Reding, the EU commissioner for information society and the media, says: "Social networking has enormous potential to flourish in Europe, to help boost our economy and make 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."

The majority of US states have signed similar agreements with Facebook and MySpace. A ruling in the UK in 2007 found ISPs are potentially responsible for the content of sites they hold, setting a precedent that the providers must treat any complaint seriously and investigate it immediately.

The move coincides with Safer Internet Day (SID). SID involves a range of events around the world designed to increase awareness of internet safety. Events include competitions, public meetings and lessons on how to protect yourself on the internet. A recent study in the US found that more than 60% of school children have suffered some form of cyber-bullying.