Respected consumer bible Which? has conducted research
into the dangers posed to children by social networking sites such
as MySpace and Bebo and has found behaviour which it says could
shock parents. Users of the sites are exposed to bullying,
pornography and junk food advertising, said the report, and parents
are largely unaware of the problems.
"They should have this common code of practice to make sure that
there are measured and sensible approaches to keep safe online,"
said Kim Gilmour, one of the researchers on the study for Computing
Which?.
"I think it's one solution, because they are all running their
own businesses they all have the same interests so I think they are
moving towards coming up with something like that," said Gilmour.
She was talking to OUT-LAW Radio, the
weekly podcast from OUT-LAW.
"We have seen similar appointments with MySpace and Bebo in
terms of getting a safety officer to look after the site and head
up that side of things. There does need to be more communication
with industry and government and parents to discuss how to make
these sites safe."
The Which? researchers found that they had no difficulty posing
as 14 year olds in order to set up profiles and that as 14 year
olds they were quickly exposed to pornographic material. "We were
able to set up accounts as 14 year olds and we were able to access
pornography and unsavoury content without actively looking for it,"
said Gilmour.
While the research found some shocking material that might alarm
parents, Gilmour said that the best way they could deal with the
situation was by trying to understand their children and talk to
them.
"I think parents will be surprised to see some of this content,
especially the discussions that teenagers are having amongst
themselves and they should try not to be alarmed or shocked because
they should think back to when they were a teenager and realise
that this is the type of discussion they were having 20 years ago,
it's just that now it's actually out on the internet if they make
their profiles readable by everyone," she said.
All websites are currently covered by a police and Home Office
good practice guide on how to safely offer interactive services for
children. Gilmour said that it would be too difficult to legislate
social networking sites since it would be very difficult to
distinguish them from other sites.
Free seminar
In October, social networking is among the issues explored in
our free, one-hour seminar on the Legal Risks of Web 2.0 for
your Business.
See: OUT-LAW Breakfast Seminars
