The European Commission is backing new hotlines that allow the public to report spam and other illegal or harmful internet content.

The aim of the four-year Safer Internet Programme is to make surfing less dangerous for children.

The €50m initiative will run from 2005 to 2008 and will provide funding to develop technologies which filter out harmful material at source.

In line with its self-regulatory approach, the Commission plans to get the message across by persuading the public, private and voluntary sectors to prepare hard-hitting safety campaigns.

Its four action lines are:

"Children should have the right to use the internet freely to chat, to learn or to play games," said Enterprise and Information Society Commissioner Erkki Liikanen in a statement.

"But to move freely online, children must be protected from the risk of being exploited by adults."