EU steps up efforts to make internet safer for children

HALF of all children using internet chatrooms have been approached online by strangers looking to meet them in person. And one child in seven has met someone after chatroom contact, but only 4% of parents are aware of what they are up to.

EU communications ministers meeting in Dundalk yesterday agreed to step up efforts to make the internet safer after hearing the results of a European Commission survey on web use among children.

The ministers promised wider use of technology to filter online communications, as well as more money for child safety awareness programmes and so-called “whistleblower” hotlines where parents can report suspicious websites.

EU commissioner with responsibility for online content Erkki Liikannen said a €50 million programme, Safer Internet Plus, would run over the next four years, tackling illegal websites and emails.

Mr Liikannen said the programme would build on recent successes in the fight against people using the internet to target children. A tip-off to an EU-funded hotline was credited with breaking up an international child pornography operation last October.

Communications Minister Dermot Ahern, who chaired the meeting, said internet access brought great benefits to businesses and the public, but that governments needed to guard against the “inherent dangers” posed by new technology.

Half of parents surveyed said their children would not know how to deal with an uncomfortable approach over the internet. Ministers said new programmes would help parents and teachers to use online safety tools and block unwanted approaches.

Mr Liikanen said the EU would focus efforts on end users and prepare “hard-hitting” safety campaigns that would involve contributions from internet service providers, governments and the voluntary sector.

A Manchester court jailed Tony Studabaker, a 32-year-old US soldier, for four-and-a-half years earlier this month after he admitted abducting a 12-year-old girl from Britain. The pair met on an internet chatroom, leading to an international manhunt when the girl went missing.