Ireland’s youth information website has partnered with social network Twitter to launch an online safety hub to make it easier for young people to deal with internet abuse.

Samaritans has been forced to suspend a new Twitter app which monitors accounts for suicidal messages following a backlash from privacy campaigners.

Ireland is no different from other European countries in relation to the level of abusive behaviour on Facebook, it emerged at an Oireachtas communications committee meeting yesterday.

Representatives from Twitter and Facebook have been defending themselves before an Oireachtas Committee today.

Facebook’s head of safety has told a cyberbullying conference that the social network’s anti-cyberbullying standards have “come a long way” in the past four years — but “we are not here to censor content”.