Blogvasion covered the issue of children’s internet safety several times but the importance of the problem and the dangers that it might cause, is worth mentioning the issue once more. Among several ways of avoiding the obstacles and difficulties, the launch of a new UK watchdog is an attempt to protect children online. According to the SOURCEWURE, Rob Marcus, director of Chat Moderators is in full support of plans for a voluntary code of practice for user-generated content (UGC) sites.

Dr. Tanya Byron highlights in her report ‘Safer children in a digital world’ that the Government internet watchdog, and the UK Council for Child Internet Safety, will aim to bring in many of the points. Among the most important points might be identified: cyber bullying, inappropriate content online and advertising.

Aiming to teach parents and children about possible dangers, the initiation cares about targeting illegal sites that contain harmful content and establishing a code of conduct for sites that allow people to post their own video clips or messages.

According to the SOURCEWIRE, Rob Marcus, director of Chat Moderators comments, “I am pleased to see that some action is now being taken as I have believed for a long time that more could be done to protect children online. I back up the council’s ambitions for a voluntary code of practice among user-generated content sites; however I do not see that enacting laws for the industry should be the way forward. I believe it is up to every UGC site to act responsibly and I see that self regulation is the way forward. Putting legislation in place is rarely a quick-fix solution; it could take several years to begin seeing results. Internet applications tend to be fast moving in terms of technological advancement so maintaining any standards may become difficult.”

Rob Marcus recommends the following points UGC sites to make their chat rooms, forums and galleries safer for children:

• Registration that deters potential paedophiles from using the sites, and can act as a means of catching them after the event. Also there are some nominal fee as a charge.
• A valid email address by responding to a registration email.
• Company Standards should be supported by The UK Council for Child Internet Safet.
• Providers should have both child-orientated and non-child orientated chat rooms
• Don’t allow private chat functions in child friendly chat rooms – this is where it is easiest for paedophiles to operate without being seen by other users.
• Human moderation should be compulsory to an extent and have minimum requirements based on an average number of users. Levels of moderation should be clearly displayed for parents. It may be best to outsource a moderation company as many providers underestimate the time, effort and resource this takes in order to moderate effectively.

Marcus summarises, “It is important for all chat rooms to act responsibly and take adequate measures to ensure that children are not at risk while visiting their website. However, I do feel that The UK Council for Child Internet Safety will play an important role in educating parents to the dangers that face their child on the Internet. In many instances the best way to arrive at a solution is to involve people with specialist knowledge who can discuss the best way forward and ensure that certain measures are being put in place by the online industry.”


References:
http://www.sourcewire.com/releases/rel_display.php?relid=LQAzz
http://www.chatmoderators.com/