A recently published paper has brought much needed light to a rather ugly element of the internet : child abuse. The paper looks at a generation of youths brought up with online weblogs and the potentially serious risks posed to them; it points to worryingly little being done to minimize the risks via sensible education and advice. The paper is based on research done by Dr Rachel O'Connell at the Cyberspace Research Unit, part of the University of Central Lancashire.
Dr O'Connell said that blogs could give paedophiles a simple way of tracking the movements of young children. She expressed especial concern at the rise of moblogs (Mobile Blogs) where users send photos from camera phones straight to their blog. Dr O'Connell said that Moblogs are "
a paedophile's dream because you have children uploading pictures, giving out details of their everyday life because it's an online journal." The Protection of Children and Prevention of Sexual Offences Bill, currently before the Scottish Parliament, is attempting to address some of the problems raised.
It's important to understand that the paper isn't so much saying that blogs are a bad thing; rather, it's highlighting that due to the lack of guidance as to what content might be appropriate (i.e. recollections on a days trip to Wales) and what might not be (i.e. plans for the next week along side your mobile phone number) blogging poses a serious risk to naive youths. Dr O'Connell said that on most Blogging sites, there was "absolutely no internet safety information or guidance whatsoever".
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View: The Paper | BBC Coverage
View: BBC Advice for Parents
Neowin surveyed a variety of Blogging sites asking them what advice they gave bloggers as to what content might be in-appropriate for publication on the internet. A representative for the recently launched [b]MSN Spaces said their service "contains many features that allow users to help protect themselves online, for example the ability to set restrictions on who can view and comment on your Space". They also noted that each blog has a "report abuse button" allowing viewers to notify the company of suspicious behaviour. Dave Gorman of Modblog said they offered parental controls and had a team of administrators that monitor for adult content on the service. Gorman said the service had plans to introduce a guide to help introduce parents to the world of blogging and to help them understand the associated risks.
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We also asked content providers whether they thought the burden of responsibility for guidance should fall with parents, or with providers. Dave Gorman believes that "a combination of good parenting and the proper functionality from blogging providers is the only way children can truly be safe on blogs". A Microsoft Spokesperson said that they "believe the best way to keep children safe online is through education" and that they "encourage parents to work with their children to educate them about how to stay safe online".
Although the paper does make very valid conclusions and criticisms, it's important to note that like many other objects on the internet (e.g. chat rooms), the legitimate uses of blogging outweigh the associated problems. Sensible education of children, something the paper advocates, is key to dealing with the problems. In other blogging news, the 2005
Bloggies nominees have been announced; readers can vote for sites listed in a variety of categories.
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* : Neowin contacted a variety of other sites (like Blogger) yet these sites failed to get back to us either in time for this story or at all. Either way, it's important to understand the fact that none of the main Blog Service Providers offer serious guidance to parents, or youths.
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