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Facebook has announced the introduction of a 'panic button' to increase the safety of young users. Children will now be able to download an application to their Facebook profiles allowing them to report potential abuse and voice concerns over cyberbullying to the Child Exploitation and Protection Centre and Facebook authorities.

The move comes after repeated calls from the CEOP Centre to improve online safety for young people in the wake of a number of high profile breaches of what Facebook terms 'one of the safest environments on the Internet'. The much-harangued social network has long resisted the adoption of a panic button directly accessible from all pages and profiles, arguing that its own internal complaints procedure was adequate and that all pages already had a link allowing users to report abuse.

However after protracted negotiations, Facebook now looks set to follow the example of other social networks Bebo and MySpace in enabling the tool. The child protection application is mainly targeted at 13-18 year olds and, as well as providing a means to alert CEOP to incidents of abuse, also acts as a viral awareness tool to raise the profile of online safety. Campaigners argue the element of choice in whether or not a child downloads ClickCEOP means that when they do, it sends out a signal to their friends and peers that they are aware of safety concerns and 'in control online' and encourages others to follow.

Jim Gamble, chief executive of the CEOP Centre, said: 'Our dialogue with Facebook about adopting the ClickCEOP button is well documented - today however is a good day for child protection. We know from speaking to offenders that a visible deterrent could protect young people online. We urge all Facebook users to add the app and bookmark it so that others can see that they're in control online.'

Joanna Shields, vice president of Facebook EMEA, added: 'Nothing is more important than the safety of our users, which is why we have invested so much in making Facebook one of the safest places on the Internet.

'There is no single silver bullet to making the Internet safer but by joining forces with CEOP we have developed a comprehensive solution which marries our expertise in technology with CEOP's expertise in online safety. It is only through the constant and concerted effort of the industry, police, parents and young people themselves that we can all keep safe online - whether on Facebook or elsewhere.'

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