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The decision by one of the world’s biggest internet providers MSN to close all its chatrooms in the UK and Europe in a bid to protect children from paedophiles has been welcomed by children’s charities, writes Sally Gillen.

Internet safety expert at the NSPCC, Christine Atkinson, said the move was a “positive step forward and will help close a major supply line for sex abusers who go to great lengths to gain access to innocent children by grooming them on the internet”.

John Carr, internet advisor at NCH, described the decision as “bold and radical,” adding that if a company as big as Microsoft was unable to keep children safe in its chatrooms, then other smaller providers would need to ask themselves if they could.

“We are not saying that we want every chatroom to be closed down. But the real issue is authenticating the users when they are online. If chat providers can solve this problem there would be fewer worries. But Microsoft has obviously looked at it and decided it  isn’t a viable option,” said Carr.

But Liberal Democrat spokesperson for children Paul Burstow said Microsoft’s decision would not protect children from paedophiles because they would switch to chatrooms that were even more unsafe.

He said: “Rather than bailing out, Microsoft should be taking steps to ensure that chat rooms are safe.

“The danger now must be that children using MSN will want to keep in touch with friends they made in the chatroom. That need is what paedophiles prey on. Rather than running away from the problem Microsoft should be taking the lead making their chatrooms the goldstandard of internet safety,” added Burstow.