Sex Offenders Face Ban From Social Networking Sites

Sex offenders could be banned from social networking sites such as MySpace, Bebo and Facebook, under new plans unveiled by the government.

The proposals, developed alongside internet firms, children's charities, and the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP), are aimed at protecting children online.

Under the new plans, the email addresses of registered child sex offenders would be passed by police to social networking websites so that they could be prevented from using the sites.

Sex offenders would also face up to five years in prison, if they failed to provide police with their email addresses or provided false ones.

Social networking sites would also display reporting links to agencies including the police, NSPCC and the Samaritans, under the proposals.

A new Kitemark to set a standard for filtering software for home computers to protect children online has also been launched.

The guidance also includes recommendations for service providers and safety advice for users, including:

• Arrangements for industry and law enforcement to share reports of potentially illegal activity and suspicious behaviour
• To make it more difficult for people registered over the age of 18 to search for users under 18
• To encourage children not to provide excessive information about themselves

Annie Mullins, Chair of the Home Secretary's Taskforce on Child Protection on the Internet and Head of Content Standards at Vodafone, said: "The protection of young people is a priority for us all and this initiative demonstrates just how effective collaboration between a wide range of organisations including government, the police, non-governmental groups and industry can be.

"Social networking sites are a wonderful way to communicate and it's vital that we work together to help ensure children and young people can use them safely and responsibly.

"These guidelines build on the work that many providers are already implementing to ensure that, as far as possible, products are safer by design and children and young people have the tools to manage their online experience."

The government's announcement comes after research from telecoms regulator Ofcom found that nearly half of those aged between 8 and 17 had a profile on a social networking site.

Commenting on the new guidance, Jim Gamble, Chief Executive of CEOP, said: "This has the real potential to accelerate online child protection and if adopted and applied should provide the vital reassurance that we all need - not least every parent, teacher and child protection team - that protecting the young and vulnerable is being taken seriously across the board."

(KMcA/JM)