Branding Twitter a breeding ground for pedophiles may seem a bit strong, but it is true that unmoderated and un-policed services are a higher risk if children and parents don’t implement good Internet safety.

That being said, social media moderator company Chat Moderators’ director Rob Marcus has called for Twitter to take its social responsibility seriously.

“Sexual predation problems will always be worse on unmoderated sites that are attractive to children so it was only a matter of time before these serious reports began surfacing around Twitter,” he said.

“For an organisation with over four million users in the UK alone to operate without due regard to child safety concerns, and indeed to distance itself from them by asking to be viewed as a ‘content provider’ and not a ‘mediator’ is morally suspect.”

Though moderation of the site may not be possible, even simple steps like improving help resources and FAQ sections and linking to the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre.

Marcus continued, “Twitter has a moral and social responsibility to ensure that the risks of predation are properly assessed and acted upon. There is plenty of expertise they can call upon to ensure that the right decisions are made; decisions that are right for Twitter and right for the children who are increasingly attracted to it. If it continues as it is and takes no action, the site will risk being marked as an attractive hunting ground for sexual predators.”

What do you think? Is it Twitter’s job to help to protect minors on the site, or does it fall to parents to teach their children about staying safe online?