Growth in social networks increases the need to protect users from online bullying.
The number of social networking sites continues to grow and the number of users is expected to double in the next three years.
Many of these users are teenagers and protection against internet bullies and predators is a contemporary discussion.
Last week, owners of MySpace told a task force that it had barred 90,000 registered sex offenders from using the site over the last two years.
Seventeen social networking sites operating in Europe have teamed up with the EU commission to draft a code aimed at protecting their young users.
Sites like Facebook, MySpace and Bebo plan to include a report abuse button and say that all users under 18 will be given private profiles by default. Coinciding with Safer Internet Day, the European Commission have released a video campaign illustrating the psychological damage that cyber bullying can cause.
New research also suggests that perhaps parents could do more to make sure that their children are not involved in cyber bullying.
Of 20,000 teens surveyed across Europe, more than half accessed the web without any parental supervision.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 10 February 2009. The reporter is Laura Fletcher.
