Facebook Panic Button Available as an Application to Report Suspected Child Predators

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Facebook has added a Facebook Panic button application, following an agreement with (read as capitulation to, but we don’t mean that pejoratively) UK’s Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP). The way that it works, at least in theory, is that it provides an easy way for young people on Facebook (and their parents) to report suspicious activity – by which we mean activity that may be aimed at luring, stalking, or bullying minors – to both Facebook and CEOP.

The agreement follows a protracted campaign on the part of CEOP and other child advocates to get Facebook to offer a Panic Button; other social networking sites, such as MySpace and Bebo have been offering a similar Panic Button for some time. Ironically, while Facebook dragged its heels and was behind the curve in adopting the Panic Button, it was the luring of a teen girl on Facebook by a known predator posing as a teen boy, and his subsequent murdering of his victim, that was the catalyst for the Panic Button campaign by CEOP and others.

Says CEOP CEO, Jim Gamble, “By adding this application, Facebook users will have direct access to all the services that sit behind our ClickCEOP button which should provide reassurance to every parent with teenagers on the site.”

“We know from speaking to offenders that a visible deterrent could protect young people online. There is no single silver bullet to making the internet safer but by joining forces with CEOP we have developed a comprehensive solution which marries our expertise in technology with CEOP’s expertise in online safety,” said Facebook vice-president Joanna Shields, adding that “Together we have developed a new way of helping young people stay safe online and backed this with an awareness campaign to publicise it to young users.”

An ad for the Panic Button is also set to appear on the Facebook homepage of every user who is under the age of 18.

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The way that the “Panic Button” application works is that it adds a new tab to your home profile, which you can access any time you feel the need. That tab in turn has a few links, including one directly to the CEOP site, where suspicious activity can be reported.

Unfortunately, it’s not going to do a whole lot of good for anyone unless they are in the UK, as CEOP only operates in the United Kingdom.

We’d love to see the button go instead to the best agency for the country in which the Facenook user is located; it would be very easy to do.

Still, we suppose it’s a start, and maybe Facebook will take us up on our suggestion.

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