Infinite Path

Facebook and the Child Exploitation and Online Protection centre (CEOP) had a meeting in Washington on Monday and, despite high hopes about the CEOP being able to persuade the social networking giant to install a “panic button” on their site, Facebook are still resisting the move.

The discussion lasted four hours and CEOP director Jim Gamble concluded afterward that Facebook was “one small step from doing the right thing” but had failed to agree outright to meet his organisation’s demands. Mr Gamble also stated that he was pleased to secure some concessions from Facebook. Speaking after the meeting, he stated: “What I am pleased about is there is a commitment from them to improve what they provide to UK policing. There is no doubt they are looking to improve their position around child safety and we recognise that. What I am looking for is turning words into action.”

In response, Facebook’s head of policy in Europe, Richard Allen, expressed his belief that the social networking site is one of the “safest places on the internet”. However, Mr Gamble has expressed his view that they are not experts in law enforcement, nor are they providing reassurance to parents with its current policies.

The request for the installation of a “panic button” came after the brutal rape and murder of Ashleigh Hall, a 17-year-old girl from County Durham who befriended a convicted sex offender on the social networking site. Peter Chapman, posing as a bare-chested young man named Peter Cartwright, had been free to meet Ashleigh on Facebook and many believe that had there been a more robust child protection policy in place, this set of affairs would never have happened.

This has resulted in chief constables up and down the country, as well as Scotland Yard Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson, signing a letter in support of the installation of a “panic button”. This would link the user to information about how to deal with incidents of cyberbullying, hacking, viruses, distressing material, and inappropriate sexual behaviour.

This is a measure that other social networking sites such as Bebo have already implemented but Facebook has so far refused. They have agreed to update their existing system by installing links to CEOP on its reporting pages but Mr Gamble doesn’t understand why they won’t adopt the “panic button” policy, particularly as it is a free way to help vulnerable children.

This debate will rumble on as Facebook increases in popularity. It is already the biggest social networking site in the world and with more visitors comes more opportunities for predators to prey on children. Whatever is implemented, let’s hope that it is effective in ensuring that what happened to Ashleigh Hall will never be repeated.