CEOP Report

What is Thinkuknow?

Thinkuknow is an education initiative by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre - the UK's national law enforcement agency that focuses on tackling the sexual abuse of children.

If you do have any thoughts on how we can improve this site please get in touch and let us know. Email us at education@ceop.gov.uk

Frequently Asked Questions

(Everything you wanted to know and were afraid to ask!)

Choose a topic below to reveal a list of common questions and answers that we have compiled. If you are looking for something specfic and are not sure where to look then you could have a look at the full list here

Social Networking:

What is social networking?
Social Networking websites utilise applications which help connect friends using a number of tools like blogs, profiles, internal email systems and photos. Well known sites include Bebo, Myspace, Facebook and LiveJournal, and these have become an influential part of contemporary culture.
What is a blog?
A blog is a website on which items are posted on a regular basis often focussing on a particular subject such as food, local news or politics; or as an online diary. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. Since its appearance in 1995, blogging has emerged as a popular means of communication, affecting public opinion and mass media around the world.
What is a forum?
Forums are areas in which participants can leave messages, often in response to a topic. Often these messages are moderated, and the chat is not instant, as with chat rooms and instant messenger. Some social networking sites also provide users with an opportunity to create or join common interest groups, which also utilise forums. Young people often use these to share views on contentious issues and to motivate others to support their cause, making them great for debating.
What is an application?
An application is an enhancement that a user can choose to add to their profile to improve and increase interaction with other users in their contacts or networks. Young people enjoy using applications to share their interests with others. Examples include 'Top Friends', 'Where I've Been', 'Super Poke!', 'The Simpsons Quotes'.
What is a network?
A network is a general group on a social networking site based around a common characteristic for instance a region, workplace, university or secondary school. If a user joins a network then they can find out more about the other users within the same network.
How do young people use blogs and social networking?

Firstly, they sign up and create their own profile or 'space'. Often, these contain standard sections such as 'About Me' and 'Who I'd Like to Meet' and also include things like Music, Films, Sports, Scared Of and Happiest When. They can also add specific personal details such as physical appearance, and the school you go to. Most sites also have a blog (see 'What is a blog?' for definition) where children can write daily thoughts or include articles which they find interesting.

An important element in social networking is young people's ability to customise their 'space', e.g. by changing the colour of their profile, adding applications to their profiles, uploading images or pictures onto their profile. One of the pictures can be chosen to be the "default image" and this will be seen on the profile's main page. There is often also an option to upload videos as well – including music videos and personally recorded films.

What are the risks when social networking to children and young people?

Although chatting online can be great fun, young people can sometimes find themselves in situations where they can feel out of their depth. Risks can arise when young people give out their personal details to strangers. The online world can often seem very different to the real world for young people, and they can be tempted to say and do things that they wouldn't dream of if they met someone face to face. This can include giving out personal information such as mobile numbers and pictures of themselves.

If they are talking to another child there is a risk that they will misuse this information - for example, by texting abusive messages to the child, or by posting their image on a website; but there is obviously a greater risk if the person that they are chatting to is an adult. Unfortunately, paedophiles - adults who want to meet young people for sex - use the internet, often with the intention of talking with and meeting a child. Young people can be naive to this risk, and often feel that they are invincible, or that 'they would know if someone was lying'.

Young people will often 'swap friends' through IM, and therefore can be chatting to strangers who they feel they trust because a friend of a friend knows them. IM is a very intimate form of communication - more so than a chat room with many participants, and therefore child abusers will often use this as a means to extract personal information from a young person.

Do you have a case study to explain the risks posed to children when using social networking and IM?

Yes, the following is a composite case study, all names are fictional:

Olivia visited a chat room where she was talking to friends about her favourite band. A guy she hadn't met before read her profile and said hi. They started chatting, and Olivia got on really well with him - he seemed to agree with everything she thought and said which was cool. After some time, he asked her for her Instant Message address so they could chat more privately.
Olivia accepted him onto her contact list and after a few weeks of chatting through IM every day she felt she knew him pretty well. He sent a photo of himself to her and she thought he looked really nice, so when he asked her to send him a sexy photo of herself - she felt apprehensive, but sent one anyway. He told her that she looked great and suggested meeting up.
Olivia felt quite uncomfortable with this, since she felt that he was still a stranger - however well they were getting on, so she refused but her new 'friend' got a upset with her and then aggressive and ended up saying that unless she agreed to meet up, he would send her sexy photo to all the people in the chat area.
Olivia was mortified, and really wasn't sure what to do; especially since she had started to worry about his intentions; not only was he blackmailing her but he was also making really suggestive comments which she felt very uneasy about.
One of Olivia's friends advised Olivia that she shouldn't have to put up with 'freaky guys' like this one, and told her to save her conversations with him, and report them to CEOP by pasting them onto the reporting form. This was then seen by a police officer who began to make enquiries and investigate further. Olivia was relieved that she didn't have to deal with the man on her own, and also found some great advice and support on the website.
Do you have any specific guidance for protecting children using social networking websites?
  • Encourage them only to upload pictures that you as their parents / carer would be happy to see – anything too sexy to be passed round the dinner table should NOT make it on to the web. It's also not a good idea to post pictures which can identify the school which your child attends since this could help someone locate them.
  • Tell your children not to post their phone number or email address on their homepage.
  • Help your child to adjust their account settings so that only approved friends can instant message them. This won't ruin their social life – new people can still send them friend requests and message them, they just won't be able to pester them via Instant Messenger (IM).
  • Check if your child has ticked the “no picture forwarding” option on their social networking site settings page – this will stop people sending pictures from their page around the world without their consent
  • Encourage them not to give too much away in a blog. Friends can call them for the address of the latest party rather than read about it on their site.
  • Ask them to show you how to use a social networking site - getting involved will empower them to share the experience with you.