What are the Dangers of Blogs?

There are a range of Internet safety dangers which need addressing before children start creating and publishing their own blogs.  These include:

• Publishing of Private Information - Children can publish information about themselves or their family which is then made available to the public.  This can lead to undesirable people trying to make personal contact.
  
• Profiles - Children can unwittingly enter private information (such as contact information, photos or their friend’s details) into the profiles of their user accounts. Children may not be aware this information may be made available to the public.
  
• Inappropriate Content - Children may be able to search through other people’s blogs and find inappropriate content or discussions on topics that are not suited
  
• Online Bullying - Children can use blogs as a way to bully or intimidate other children.
  
• Defamation and Race Hate - Children can use blogs as a form of publishing to defame other innocent people or to publish racial hatred information.
  
• Publishing Unreliable Information - Unreliable information can be published by anybody creating a blog, just as it can anybody creating a website.  Children need to be careful with what they read and publish.