Microsoft has launched a child-friendly version of the Internet Explorer 8 browser that will let youngsters report unsafe sites and cyberbullying with a single mouse click.
Known as Internet Explorer 8 Click Clever, Click Safe, it's been developed in association with Ceop, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre. It's being launched to celebrate Safer Internet Day, and is part of Ceop's wider Click Clever, Click Safe campaign that's intended to educate children about the dangers online.
The enhancement downloads (http://www.ceop.gov.uk/ie8/) as a button into the browser toolbar. You will need Internet Explorer 8, but recent figures from NetApplications indicate IE8 accounts for 22 per cent of the global browser market.
The button will let children report cyberbullying, harmful content, sexual behaviour, hacking, mobile problems, and viruses.
Jim Gamble, chief executive of Ceop, said: "Parents and children should not have to go searching through numerous web pages to find the help they need. This new tool will embed advice, help and report services directly in to the toolbar to provide a constant, reassuring presence for families, who will be one click away from the support they need."
Microsoft figures show that over 60 per cent of those under 18 have been contacted by someone they didn't know, and more than a third have responded. 58 per cent of children said their parents did nothing to control their web access.