Phone firms 'too slow' to combat bullying

MOBILE PHONE companies were criticised at an Oireachtas committee today for being too slow to introduce technology which could help combat the bullying of children and teens.

A number of surveys published in recent months indicate that up to one-fifth or more of teenagers have been subjected to bullying online or through mobile phones.

Fine Gael TD Simon Coveney said many phone operators did not have any service or technology available to help tackle bullying among younger children, despite the large resources at their disposal.

Speaking at the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications today, he said parents should also be provided with greater guidance on the options available to them if buying a phone for their child.

“I want parents to have a choice of phones and technologies to help protect their children from bullying. We are nowhere near that yet,” he said.

“Parents want simple solutions but some of the big operators are not providing them - I don’t accept that there are technical obstacles.”

Mr Coveney said it was “hard to not be cynical” when many operators were opting to introduce technology which restricts text messages from prescribed numbers but not revenue-generating phone calls.

The chairman of the committee, Fianna Fáil TD Peter Kelly, was more positive, saying it was clear that the industry had made significant progress in tackling bullying via mobile phones since its previous appearance before the committee six months ago.

Representatives of the Irish Cellular Industry Association – which includes Vodafone, O2, Meteor and 3 - insisted they were making significant strides in tackling the issue through a number of new services.

Majella Fitzpatrick of O2 told the committee that it is launching in the coming days a “Block It” service, which allows phone users to block unwanted messages from other phones. She said the service will be available to users free of charge. She said phone calls cannot be blocked yet on the service for technical reasons.

O2 has also introduced the “Firefly”, a simplified mobile phone which gives safety-conscious parents greater control over their children’s phones.

Vodafone said it is also developing a blocking tool for abusive messages, which is expected to be available in autumn of this year. Meteor also said it was tendering for work on a service, but was unable to provide many details.

Committee members responded more positively towards mobile phone operator 3, which has introduced what it says was Europe’s first anti-bullying phone application last November.

The “KidSafe” application allows parents or phone users to prevent and filter anonymous text and voice calls, deny access to web-based services and allows the mobile to be locked during school hours or after midnight.

Catriona Costello, the company’s regulatory affairs manager, said from mid-July it will have the application available for free nationwide on applicable handsets.