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[13 April 2010] - Facebook is continuing to resist placing a "panic button" on its pages despite calls to do so by the head of a British child protection agency. The Child Exploitation and Online Protection (Ceop) centre wants such a link on every page of the website. Facebook said an existing link allowing users to report abuse will in future enable a report to be made to Ceop. Richard Allen, Facebook's head of policy in Europe, said the site was one of the "safest places on the internet". Facebook and Ceop representatives had a meeting in the US to discuss the issue. Ceop's director Jim Gamble had a meeting in Washington DC with Facebook, which says it takes the issue seriously. Mr Allen said Facebook and Ceop had a "common agenda" on child safety on the internet. He said the site had showed Mr Gamble "a series of measures which we think will meet the requirements that he has". He added: "We're going to build into our reporting structure an ability for people who are in the United Kingdom with relevant reports to go directly to Ceop. "There are some issues around the design and the way in which we do that that Jim put to us very forcefully but... in order to change a website as fundamentally as he wishes us to do then that takes some time to work through." Mr Allen said that US-hosted sites such as Facebook already pass reports of abuse onto a similar organisation in the United States, who work with Ceop in the UK. "We've said that we're prepared to bypass that and send the reports directly to [Mr Gamble] as well," Mr Allen added. Facebook currently has a link through which people can report abuse or concerns about other users to the website. According to Mr Allen, the site has now agreed to allow another window to pop-up when that link is activated, which will allow those reporting abuse to also be able to make another report to Ceop. Speaking after the four-hour discussion, Mr Gamble said Facebook was "one small step from doing the right thing" but had not agreed to his demands outright. 'Words into action' He said: "What I am pleased about is there is a commitment from them to improve what they provide to UK policing. "There is no doubt they are looking to improve their position around child safety and we recognise that. What I am looking for is turning words into action." "In our view they are experts at creating a fantastic online environment but they are not experts in law enforcement, the power of deterrents and the reassurance it brings for mums and dads." Chief constables from across England and Wales, including Scotland Yard Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson, have signed a letter supporting the addition of the extra safety feature. Facebook had previously said it would not install a "panic button" on its main pages for users to report suspected paedophiles, but would develop its existing system. Mr Gamble said he could not understand why Facebook would not agree to adopt the button on every page as it was a free way to "help save some children". "If you're going to operate a business that encourages people to frequent your public place so that you can advertise to them, then let's look after them while they're there." Last week Mr Gamble said the agency had received 252 complaints about Facebook during the first three months of the year - with 40% of them about the potential "grooming" of children. Cyberbullying He said the complaints had come via e-mails and people using other means to complain to the centre as they could not do so via Facebook. The figures were revealed as part of Ceop's campaign to persuade Facebook to change its mind. The "panic button" in question is already used by other websites, including Bebo. Clicking on it takes people to a site that details how to handle cyberbullying, hacking, viruses, distressing material and inappropriate sexual behaviour. Mr Gamble said the issue was an urgent one, especially after the murder of 17-year-old student Ashleigh Hall in County Durham last October by Peter Chapman, a man she met via the site. Last month Chapman, 33, was jailed for at least 35 years for the killing. The teenager had been raped, suffocated and her body dumped in a field near Sedgefield, County Durham, after agreeing to meet Chapman. Earlier that month, she had been attracted by a picture of a young, bare-chested man that Chapman - calling himself Peter Cartwright - had posted on Facebook. Facebook said it was "deeply saddened by the tragic death".
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