In an attempt to stamp out cyber-bullying, seventeen social networking websites agreed on 10 February 2009 to put safeguards in place to protect young internet users from unwittingly giving out personal information. The move was part of the European Commission's "Safer Internet Day" and the seventeen websites, which include Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and Bebo have promised significant progress will be made by April 2009 towards ensuring that young people using these sites will be protected.
The measures to be implemented include enabling users to report abuse with a single click, making the default setting for online profiles and contact lists set to "private" for users under 18; ensuring that private profiles of users under 18 will no longer be searchable, and placing privacy options in more prominent locations so users know who can see what they've posted online.
Online social networking is a popular past time, with about 42 million people regularly using social networking websites. This number is expected to double by 2012, and it is obviously important that barriers to prevent privacy violation and illegal activities are put in place and maintained. A "block bullying online" video will be broadcast on public and private TV channels all over Europe throughout 2009.
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