The whitepaper has been drafted by Tamara Littleton, a respected pioneer and authority on virtual-world and MMOG moderation, who is an original member of the Home Office Internet Taskforce for Child Protection on the Internet that advised the UK government on moderation of communities to help safeguard children. eModeration currently provides moderation services for the virtual worlds, including Dizzywood. The full white paper can be accessed at:

1. Consult all available research when drafting parental guidelines – any organisation that plans to set up a virtual world must explain how they mitigate risk in its parental guidelines. Each virtual world will vary in theme and content, but there are a number of rules that children and parents should adhere to. The full list can be found in the whitepaper, but the golden rule for children is that when online, never share personally identifiable information (PII); this way, a child can never be traced.

1. Use automated moderation filters – these can be used to intercept the disclosure of a child’s personal information preventing children from giving away their mobile phone number, email or IM address and their social network pages, which would otherwise hand to an adult with malicious intent a wealth of useful information. Sophisticated filters can flag to a moderator when a child is being persistently pursued for information, such as where they are from, what school they got to, and for his/her personal preferences, such as favourite football team or singer. It is also possible to tackle overt bullying, abuse and harassment using filters.

1. Make reporting inappropriate behaviour clear and simple – virtual worlds must provide a very easy way for children and parents to report instances of inappropriate behaviour and should provide easily-accessible contact details for a moderator. The site should also have a very clear policy on what constitutes bullying so that children understand what is, and what isn’t, acceptable behaviour before they play.

1. Get parents involved – parents have a very important role to play in ensuring virtual worlds and MMOGs are a safe and positive place for their children to play. There should always be a ‘parents’ guidelines’ page clearly visible on the site. It is also very important that parents are encouraged to adopt a balanced approach when it comes to educating their children on the dangers of virtual worlds, and do not unwittingly frighten them before they’ve even played the game.

 Tamara Littleton, CEO, eModeration, comments: “It’s important to keep a sense of perspective and remember that the risks associated with virtual worlds should be tackled in a similar way to those facing children in the real world. Dangers do exist, but by following safety guidelines and applying commonsense, these risks can be mitigated as much as is possible and children can enjoy a positive, stimulating experience.” For more information, visit www.emoderation.com.  - ends -About eModeration Founded in 2002, eModeration Limited is an international, specialist user-generated content moderation company. It provides 24-hour community and content moderation to clients in the entertainment and digital publishing industry and major corporate clients hosting online communities and consumer-driven projects. eModeration's CEO and founder, Tamara Littleton, has an established background in editorial quality control, fault escalation and process management gained from previous work as the Product Delivery Director for Chello Broadband and Online Operations Manager for BBC Online, where she managed the world's first ISO 9000-accredited team for digital publishing management and monitored over 400 BBC websites. Tamara Littleton is a member of the Home Office Internet Taskforce for Child Protection on the Internet which brings together government, law enforcement, children’s agencies and the internet industry, who are all working to ensure that children can use the internet in safety.  She was also the Chair of e­mint, the online community for community professionals from 2006-2007. eModeration's team of moderators and staff are the key to eModeration's success and excellent client list. eModeration draws on the expertise of carefully recruited and trained moderators located mainly in the US and Europe with specialist editorial and community moderation skills, which are matched uniquely to the client. The company can moderate 24/7/365 in more than 18 languages. All its moderators are managed online from eModeration's headquarters in London, United Kingdom.   

Further press information: Malini Majithia / Kate HartleyCarrot CommunicationsTel: +44 (0)20 7386 4860E: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it