Habbo caught up in child sex scandal / Habbo Mute

[GommeInc]

Habbo clearly states when creating an account the age limit for those who can join. Why is habbo so different to any other online site such as facebook, twitter etc!?

They're completely different services. Habbo primarily functions as a MMORPG, and adds social networking tools as a secondary service. Facebook and Twitter are strictly social networking sites. Because Habbo is a MMORPG, they have limited safety and security features for joining the service which is natural for MMORPGs because the whole point is to openly discuss and interact with other players. This is why Habbo is in trouble because their service is focused on teens, incl. sexually under aged users. They have to put extra effort into real time moderation, because there is no filtering of users at sign up and no security settings to filter who can talk to you and who can't. Again, they cannot add these features as it will completely change the service and put people off, and there's the risk of people lying (like people signing up who are 11 when the minimum age is 13).

If you don't go looking for them then the chances are they won't be getting involved with you!

What if they come looking for you? It's not difficult to build up trust over time or let your guard down. It's natural.

There are many trustful moderators on habbo that make sure people are not saying sexually explicit things.

Clearly not, otherwise they wouldn't of got so much information in the report and be under fire by so many users who have also noticed sexually explicit content.

AH! this makes me so angry. I am a dedicated roleplayer on habbo! The number of paedophiles on habbo is a minority group! In some way it could prepare you for real life, because isnt the real world full of paedophiles and immoral people?

That misses the point. Habbo is advertised as a safe community, so instinctively you assume it won't be filled with paedophiles or mature discussions. Although it is a minority, Habbo hasn't got the tools currently to stop these discussions and these sorts of users from accessing the service. It's why Habbo has muted it, because they are clueless as to what to do My opinion is that they should just shut off the client and display a message saying it's undergoing maintenance because of this, that and the other - but that's just an opinion.

You can't just mute everyone in real life and keep them safe. It IS a risk everyone faces in every day life, facebook, twitter, and even habbo!

You're usually not alone in the street, so it's difficult to find privacy to have these sorts of conversations. Also, Facebook and Twitter have features in place to hide your identity and only allow you to add who you want. The risk will always be there, but Habbo should be seriously reducing the risk.

By muting one site and considering getting rid of it is just stupid. It's not going to help anyone. Infact it's going to make over four thousand people very angry. Not all of us can be treated has children under the scrutiny of paedophiles. Habbo is a place where you can feel like part of something! Make loads of new friends and have a fun time. Many people are bullied in real life, so by going on habbo, we are given a chance to express ourselves and forget those bullies! I am going to post this over and over again until people start to realise that muting habbo is a mistake..

Unfortunately, Habbo have completely messed up. The mute isn't Channel 4's fault, and you shouldn't blame them as it was Habbo who made the decision to mute everyone, which is a wise choice as like I said, they do not have the features or the man power to immediately focus on analysing the conversations and keep the hotel running as normal. It would be unwise for them to even attempt it, as they clearly do not have the tools at hand.

And you can try posting it over again, but it's the wrong stance to take The issue needs sorting once and for all, which is why the EC is involved. It's been a long time coming.

[Eric]

^^

ikr , I've spent 50k of my pixels on those pixels stuffs ffs

[GommeInc]

You do know how many moderators they would need to monitor every single bit of chat? It would bankrupt the company in a second, there's a reason they don't have it now.

There are some incredibly clever tools out there that can analyse the lines of chat for moderators, and pick out the serious ones from the usual conversations. Habbo must not be using one or only have ones that pick up people saying "5 credits, sex time?"

[Jordy]

Habbo clearly states when creating an account the age limit for those who can join. Why is habbo so different to any other online site such as facebook, twitter etc!?

Both Facebook and Twitter have many measures in place to prevent paedofiles and aren't specifically aimed at teenagers so there is less need for them to be as strict as a teenage chatroom. They also don't feature "live chats" with strangers unlike Habbo. You don't get the likes of "strip clubs" for people aged 13 on Facebook. That's not to say Facebook, Twitter etc are perfect as they are not as there is always a chance of paedofiles but Habbo's efforts in stopping them are no longer acceptable or effective as highlighted in this report.

Of course your never going to really know who you are talking to online but that's a risk anyone takes when on social networking sites!

That is true but does that make "strip clubs", people imiting touching each other and access for MSNs and Skypes to "further" acceptable? I think not.

Habbo is used for many other things rather than ''sexual scening''!

No one has ever said that it was only a sexual scene, it's been acknowledged a lot more going on in the site.

I have been on Habbo for a number of years now and i have rarely had a 'sexual' encounter with a paedophile.

"Rarely" implies you have had a sexual encounter with a paedofile which is hardly acceptable but anyway, just because you haven't experienced much of the "sexual scenes" in Habbo doesn't mean they don't go on.

If you don't go looking for them then the chances are they won't be getting involved with you!

Unfortunately everyone on Habbo isn't as educated or sensible as your good self. There are vulnerable 13 year-olds who perhaps aren't aware of the dangers and those who are new to Habbo are likely to experiment and be unaware of what sort of rooms are best avoiding. Your sort of rhetoric implies it's the victims fault for searching it out in the first place, I hardly imagine these victims of crimes at the mercy of paedofiles wanted it to occur. Habbo should have safeguards in place to protect these vulnerable users, and quite frankly they're no longer up to standards.

There are many trustful moderators on habbo that make sure people are not saying sexually explicit things.

Very little is known about the current moderators on Habbo as they're outsourced and have little presence in the hotel, how you know they're "trustful" or not I've no idea, I can't even safely say that they're checked as rigorously now they're in foreign countries. As for your comment about people saying sexually explicit things, I think it's fair to say they have epically failed in this respect as the report shows it going on and it was hardly difficult to see for yourself on Habbo.

The number of paedophiles on habbo is a minority group!

How do you know this? You don't know who's behind everyone's character as you've previously said... Anyway it's not acceptable there is paedofiles on Habbo, whilst it is very difficult to eliminate them entirely there should at least be a sustained effort to attempt to.

In some way it could prepare you for real life, because isnt the real world full of paedophiles and immoral people? You can't just mute everyone in real life and keep them safe.

That's alright then! Let's have paedofiles there so it's a "game" of dodging them like in real life! Maybe all your furni should vanish every few years on Habbo too so it simulates getting mugged or burgled? And occasionally your Habbo could get beaten up in the Welcome Lounge and walk round with a black eye to represent being beaten up in the street! (Heavy sarcasm)

Of course not, this is blind loyalty gone mad on your behalf. The world is full of immoral people but Habbo is not a simulation of real life to prepare you for later life, the comparisons are preposterous. Parents should be able to trust their children on Habbo without them encountering paedofiles, "strip clubs", touched up and hassled for MSNs and Skypes. Vulnerable children should be protected by filters, encouraged to behaviour better and there should be an active and quality moderation team moderating chats and responding harshly to those breaking the rules.

It IS a risk everyone faces in every day life, facebook, twitter, and even habbo! By muting one site and considering getting rid of it is just stupid. It's not going to help anyone.

The idea of the "mute" is first of all to protect Sulake from further bad publicity (other news outlets could find evidence of it themselves) but most importantly to "pause" gameplay until a solution to the problems is found. I've actually come round to the idea that the mute is a good thing, it's better than closing the hotel as then people would have nothing to do at all. The mute isn't there to protect users atm, whilst it inadvertently does it's just a small temporary measure, it certainly is helping things.

Infact it's going to make over four thousand people very angry.

I can see that but it's actually there to benefit users in the long term hopefully as when the mute is lifted you'll return to a much safer hotel so vulnerable Habbos aren't at risk to paedofiles. It's not ideal but it's only going to be a few days. Plus the anger of the four thousand users doesn't really represent anything as because of the blind loyalty they'll still keep playing the game and spending their money on it anyway.

Habbo is a place where you can feel like part of something! Make loads of new friends and have a fun time. Many people are bullied in real life, so by going on habbo, we are given a chance to express ourselves and forget those bullies!

I agree that's the brilliant thing about Habbo, it's a brilliantly creative place and somewhere everyone on this forum has many happy memories of at some point I'm sure. Measures do however need to be put in place to prevent there being "paedofiles" actively playing the game instead, which let's face it are just as bad and often worse than the bullies in real life.

I am going to post this over and over again until people start to realise that muting habbo is a mistake..

And I will continue to counter your posts due to their ridiculous comments and blind loyalty.

[Succubus]

Finally something that enlightens the lift of the mute, wooop!

---------- Post added 14-06-2012 at 02:36 PM ----------

not sure where to post this but did anyone get this badge?

Just entered the welcome lounge and got that.

[Zak]

love the video completely agree with what you're saying

[Ladiesman13]

In other news.......

We get a sweet badge!

[Aaron]

It's nice of you to make a video, agree with what your saying. Least you're being out-straight about the whole thing.

[GommeInc]

Misses the point. The rooms "sexy teenagers" shouldn't exist int he first place. They went into those rooms because they existed. Yes, you can avoid them, but loads of people use them. As nice as you are trying to stick up for Habbo, you've not quite grasped why the Report is so scatching.

The 11 year old argument is boring, old and highly irrelevant. Again, it's not the point of lying - 13 year olds shouldn't be joining in and viewing sexually explicit material. Those who are over the age of 13, say a 14 year old, shouldn't even be seeing the material, such as the rooms called "sexy teenagers" People are forgetting the age of consent and sexual content are 16 and 15 respectively. Loads of people are acting as though 13 is fine for all this sexual content when it incredibly stupid it was ever allowed in the first place.

The report doesn't state that all users are looking for these rooms and all users are sexually driven. It's stating they exist.

The report doesn't state whether or not she removed filter. As a player of 11 years, you of all people should know how easy it is to avoid saying "webcam" and "MSN". She is probably using the entire word, when the user may of stated we.b.c.a.m and messenger or used another word to mean the same thing, like cam. It was strange she said this. If she did remove the filter, this again goes against the Habbo Way that these conversations are acceptable and that an 11 year old can do this.

And finally, it's muted because they want to get it sorted once and for all. It's muted for safety reasons, not to attack innocent Habbos as everyone seems to be suggesting. Furthermore, Channel 4 did not initiate the mute... You're acting as if they did it personally, or asked Habbo to do it - when they seemed intrigued such a feature existed!

[Xedia]

In other news.......

We get a sweet badge!

It better look good