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Habbo Hotel: private equity group ditches stake over paedophile fears Habbo Hotel: NSPCC urges government and technology industry to act
(about 6 hours later)
A major British private equity group is to ditch its shareholding in the company behind Habbo Hotel, the game-based social networking website popular with children and teenagers, following allegations that online paedophiles have been targeting the site's users. The technology industry and government should do more to protect young internet users from potential abuse, the NSPCC has warned in the wake of revelations about highly sexualised content on Habbo Hotel, a virtual world popular with children and teenagers.
The 3i group, which owns 16% of Sulake, the Finnish company that owns Habbo, said in a statement late on Wednesday: "3i has actively supported the Sulake board in determining the right course of action in these very challenging circumstances. Following a board meeting today, we have resigned our board position and will cease to be a shareholder in the company." Sulake, the Finnish company that owns Habbo, which has about 15 million users a month across more than 100 countries, has suffered a series of setbacks since a Channel 4 News investigation found seemingly routine occurrences of sexualised or violent online chat on the site, as well as sexual approaches to young participants.
Tesco, WH Smith and Game announced earlier on Wednesday that they had stopped selling gift cards for use on the site following a Channel 4 News investigation that found that Habbo, which has around 10 million visitors a month, allowed users to place pornographic and violent messages. The British private equity group 3i announced it was selling its 16% stake in Sulake, it said in a statement late on Wednesday: "3i has actively supported the Sulake board in determining the right course of action in these very challenging circumstances. Following a board meeting today, we have resigned our board position and will cease to be a shareholder in the company."
Habbo, in which users create online alter egos, or avatars, to explore a world of brightly coloured teddy bears and cartoon characters, is aimed at children aged 13 upwards and used by some as young as nine. Tesco, WH Smith and Game had announced shortly before that they had stopped selling gift cards for the virtual currency used on the site, with which players can "buy" extras, such as accessories for virtual hotel rooms. The revenue from this helped Sulake bring in an annual turnover of more than £50m.
Channel 4 News producer Rachel Seifert spent two months playing on Hotel Habbo, visiting the site 50 times. Posing as an 11-year-old girl, she found the speech balloons through which users communicate were often full of pornographic chat. She said: "Within two minutes I was being asked individually: 'Do you have a webcam?', 'Can we chat on MSN, on Skype?' I was also, within a couple of minutes, asked to strip, fully naked, and asked what would I do on a webcam." Habbo, in which users create online alter egos, or avatars, to explore a hotel-themed world of brightly coloured teddy bears and cartoon characters, is officially aimed at children aged 13 upwards but used by some as young as nine.
Channel 4 News producer Rachel Seifert spent two months playing on Habbo Hotel, visiting the site 50 times. Posing as an 11-year-old girl, she found the speech balloons through which users communicate were often full of pornographic chat. She said: "Within two minutes I was being asked individually: 'Do you have a webcam?', 'Can we chat on MSN, on Skype?' I was also, within a couple of minutes, asked to strip, fully naked, and asked what would I do on a webcam."
Not only were such activities not blocked, but the infrastructure of the online world appeared geared to such sexualisation, with some rooms given names such as "naughty nightclub".Not only were such activities not blocked, but the infrastructure of the online world appeared geared to such sexualisation, with some rooms given names such as "naughty nightclub".
Sulake announced earlier this week it was blocking all chats between Habbo users while the claims were investigated. The company's chief executive, Paul LaFontaine, said: "I am greatly saddened that following reports of abusive behaviours amongst a very small part of the Habbo community we have taken the decision to mute all conversations across the site. Sulake announced earlier this week it was blocking all chat between Habbo users while the claims were investigated. The company's chief executive, Paul LaFontaine, said: "I am greatly saddened that following reports of abusive behaviours amongst a very small part of the Habbo community we have taken the decision to mute all conversations across the site."
"We are still reviewing our long-term plans for the Habbo community, and would like to thank our millions of loyal users for their support at this challenging time. This decision has not been taken lightly and underlines the company's continuing commitment to ensure that all our site users remain safeguarded from inappropriate behaviour and conversations. Sulake says it employs 225 moderators who monitor 70m lines of typed conversation every day.
"Our internal investigation is currently ongoing, but we will be sure to inform all users of further developments in the coming days and weeks." Jon Brown, head of strategy for the NSPCC, said: "We've been concerned for some time that websites designed for children and young people are vulnerable."
While would-be online predators seeking to get access to children are "extremely skilled and extremely inventive", he said, more needed to be done: "It is very difficult, but I think the industry needs to take it a bit more seriously. They're reluctant to. It's not very good publicity for them to say: this is a fantastic resource for their child, and they may also be targeted for abuse."
The government's UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS), which brings together industry groups, campaigners and police, also needed to "pick up this issue more robustly", Brown said, while schools could also deliver better education about online safety.
Ultimately, he said, it was up to parents: "Particularly for younger children, it's really important that parents are monitoring internet use, that the laptop isn't tucked away in a bedroom and they're not able to monitor the sorts of sites the children are visiting."
The children's minister, Tim Loughton, said the government was working on the issue through the UKCCIS. He added: "Businesses need to do more to help parents enable their children to use the internet safely and responsibly. Websites should make it straightforward for people to complain about offensive content, and should have systems that allow them to feed back what they have done in response.
"Parents have to help their children learn how to be safe online just as they would teach them to be safe in the offline world. Sites where children – some really very young indeed – are known to be networking should have suitable and appropriate moderating."