Young people using Windows Live Messenger or MSN Messenger to chat online with friends can now make a report to police with one click if they are concerned their online 'buddy' is a sex offender.

Microsoft has partnered with the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre – the UK's first dedicated organisation focused on tackling child sex abuse – to introduce the safety element to the UK's most popular instant messenger product.

The move sees the incorporation of a new Messenger tab and features the CEOP Centre's distinctive “report abuse” icon which links users in the UK directly to online police services. This allows young people and adults to report suspicious behaviour and instances of inappropriate contact of a sexual nature they have encountered whilst chatting in the virtual environment.

Also, through the icon and link to the CEOP web site, people from anywhere in the world can access the Virtual Global Taskforce (VGT) – an international alliance of law enforcement agencies – of which the CEOP Centre is the UK's representative.

The tab will appear on both MSN Messenger, and its replacement, Windows Live Messenger. As well as a 'one click' link through to a report to the police, each week, CEOP and Microsoft will provide a new safety tip as part of the tab, for example, how to safeguard your personal details or to how to spot a potential threat.

Jim Gamble, chief executive of the CEOP Centre and chair of the VGT said:
“What Microsoft and the CEOP are doing today is saying is 'enough is enough'. By working together in a very clear and tangible way we can safeguard children from online sexual predators.

“Behind the report abuse button will sit police and intelligence officers who have been specially trained to tackle child sex abuse. We will tell you how to capture information and how to seize online discussions and then proactively do all we can to track down the perpetrator.

“CEOP is an integral part of the VGT and therefore by working with MSN in this way we are offering users access to a global police response. If you make a report as a UK citizen then we at CEOP will investigate. If you make a report as a user from other countries then our counterparts in the US, Australia, Canada or Interpol will take the matter further. That is a truly global response to a worldwide issue.”

http://www.ceop.gov.uk

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