Facebook creates Safety Advisory Board

Facebook claims to be enhancing the safety of its users

Facebook is to create a Safety Advisory Board made up of five internet safety organisations from the US and Europe, which it will consult regularly in an effort to protect users' safety and privacy online.

The social networking site has been eager to show the importance it places on protecting its customers after the uproar and negative press that followed a rejig of its terms of service in February, which allowed the company to keep users' information indefinitely even if an account had been shut down.

Facebook reversed the change to the terms, and now requests user input and votes before making any adaptations to its privacy policies.

The company said in a statement that it will use the Safety Advisory Board to keep up to date on general safety best practice, and to review the existing safety resources it provides to users.

The five organisations are Common Sense Media, ConnectSafely, WiredSafety, Childnet International and The Family Online Safety Institute, and the first task of the board will be to review the safety content located in Facebook's Help Centre.

"The formation of a board to advise specifically on safety issues is a positive, innovative and collaborative step towards creating a more robust safety environment," said Elliot Schrage, Facebook's global communications and public policy vice president.

In other moves to promote user safety, Facebook is working with legal enforcement bodies to identify and disable the accounts of registered sex offenders.

Last week Facebook made the latest change to its privacy policy to allow users to control who sees each individual piece of content that they upload.