Voluntary Code of Practice to protect children in chat rooms

 

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Posted on 2 Oct 2008 at 14:11

Independent chat room monitor Chat Moderators is calling on the government's newly formed internet watchdog to address children's safety in chat rooms and sites containing user generated content (UGC).

The UK Council for Child Internet Safety was recently set up by the Department for Children, Schools and Families, and Chat Moderators wants the organisation to get tough with cyber bullies and paedophiles in chat rooms.

Launched by Schools Secretary Ed Balls and Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, the UK Council for Child Internet Safety aims to address issues such as cyber bullying and inappropriate content and behaviour online. The council's aims are to teach parents and children about possible dangers, target illegal sites that contain harmful content and establish a code of conduct for sites that allow users to post their own video clips or messages.

Rob Marcus, director of Chat Moderators, has put forward proposals for the organisation to put into practice. He said that imposing laws for the websites isn't the way forward for protection on UGC sites, and suggests that instead they should act responsibly and exercise self regulation.

Among his recommendations is a sterner registration process for UGC websites, and suggests that users should be made to pay a nominal fee through credit card, so that they are identifiable.

He also suggests that each chat site should have adult-only as well as non-adult chat rooms, and that no private messaging should be allowed in non-adult chat rooms.

Human moderation should be compulsory to an extent and have minimum
requirements based on an average number of users, and levels of moderation should be clearly displayed for parents. Marcus suggests that 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.

"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," he said. "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."

Author: Dawinderpal Sahota