CEOP welcomes MPs' call for extra cash

The Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre has welcomed an acknowledgement by MPs that it needs more funding.

Harmful Content on the Internet and in Video Games, a report released by the Department of Culture, Media and Sports Committee yesterday, said that funding levels for CEOP were “not keeping pace with the increasing volume of work” it carries out.

The child protection agency, which is affiliated to the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), also said that the committee's call for a ‘report abuse’ button echoed what young people themselves want.

Delegates at last month's International Youth Advisory Congress (IYAC) on safety and security on the internet called for this feature to be made mandatory on browsers and social networking websites.

CEOP said it particularly welcomed the realisation that there is a need to improve the level of protection on these sites through a one-click facility for reporting abuses directly to law enforcement and support organisations.

Earlier this year, CEOP’s chief executive, Jim Gamble, said: “Very few people are doing enough. Those people who have in place a mechanism for reporting abuse where danger manifests itself are doing a good job and the right thing.

“I believe that we should be able to come to some form of accommodation with them and I hope it is much sooner rather than later. We have the frustrating position where people say they need to talk and engage and we do, but we can talk only for so long and then we need to see action and not words”.