BBC Breakfast had Jim Gamble from CEOP (the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre) on today, talking about online safety. He was quite demanding, saying that sites hosting online communities must engage with CEOP. To talk to them and to post the CEOP report button on their sites. Only Bebo is using it thus far; Facebook and others are turning a blind eye to his pleas.

Now I am the first to admit that help should be available easily and in a timely manner, but this might not be the right way.

Just imagine having a button to push to complain about being put on hold every time you call your bank or utilities companies. Imagine how many requests that would generate.

But that would be a mere drop in the ocean. Introducing the button to every social media site today would result in a huge number of requests that would be quite impossible to handle. Let’s first see how CEOP deals with the requests coming in from Bebo and then campaign to open the floodgates.

Of course, Jim is right about getting together, collaborating to address the problem of online safety. It is a serious problem, as Ashleigh Hall’s parents would no doubt agree.