Meet MovieStarPlanet's Head of Safety

MovieStarPlanet takes the safety of its users very seriously. Vernon Jones is the Head of Safety at MovieStarPlanet and his role is to safeguard children against all forms of inappropriate conduct and keep the online community as safe as possible. Vernon works alongside a dedicated team of Community Managers and moderators who are there to support and protect the children and take care of any unwanted behaviour.

As a registered social worker, Vernon has worked extensively on child protection and safeguarding issues with local authorities in different countries. He has also been involved in developing online child safety measures as part of an online child protection team at Save the Children Denmark.

Simple Rules and Good Manners

We need our users to follow a few simple Rules and use common sense while on MovieStarPlanet. We also need parents/guardians to make sure their children understand the rules and understand good "Netiquette"(the informal code of conduct on the Internet). The most important safety rule online is to never share personal information. The next rule is to keep your password safe - see our Rules for more on this subject.

A Safe Framework

MovieStarPlanet provides a safe framework - we monitor the site, and we encourage all users to report inappropriate behaviour, offensive language, and abusive or unsuitable content. We provide users with a Safety Information area in the community, which informs users about the live moderators monitoring the site and the basic safety rules to help them help themselves. The vast majority of users do in fact play by the rules and are kind to each other; this is why MovieStarPlanet is a fun and safe place to be.

All moderators are trained in Internet safety for our target group (children aged between 8 and 15 years). They work on the site every day and know what is going on among the users. If a new trend or usage appears, steps are immediately taken to address the issue, and if no known solution exist, we create one.

At MovieStarPlanet, we do not compromise when it comes to safety and that is why there are a number of ways we can be alerted to inappropriate and/or undesirable behaviour, through:

Our Reporting System

MovieStarPlanet has an easy-to-use reporting system; it only takes a few clicks. We encourage everyone to report bad behaviour, with our moderators responding to reports within 24 hours.

To report another user, click on their username which will display their personal profile. Then click the 'Report Bad Behaviour' button (it is an exclamation mark [!] in a yellow triangle) located in the top right hand corner of the user profile.

Users are required to select a violation category and provide a brief description of the violation. This helps moderators prioritise reports.

If a user breaks the rules they will be locked from the site, starting at five minutes and extending to seven days depending on the severity of the behaviour. If users continue to break the rules, or a severe breach occurs, MovieStarPlanet can permanently lock the user from entering the site; place a block on the computer/IP address or both, preventing a user from registering under a different profile.

Always use MovieStarPlanet's reporting mechanism as your first option. MovieStarPlanet will investigate the report and decide on an appropriate course of action. This includes issuing communications blocks, temporary bans from the site or permanent blocks. If a child's safety is at risk or personally identifiable information has been exchanged, MovieStarPlanet notifies CEOP and other relevant law enforcement agencies on your behalf.

If you require more information or advice regarding inappropriate behaviour online, click the CEOP button below.

Alert Words

Certain sentences can be perfectly acceptable to write in some contexts, but can seem inappropriate in others. Therefore, MovieStarPlanet has an Alert Word system, where the system automatically generates reports whenever an Alert Word is used. The list of Alert Words is updated on a regular basis based on feedback and knowledge gained from user behaviour, pattern tracing and so forth. Our moderators then analyse how the word was used and perform cross-analysis of previous communication logs, and determine if the usage was acceptable or if further action should be taken.

Blocked Words

Chat room conversations on MovieStarPlanet are restricted by a blocked list. This is a long list of words that are banned from our site and cannot be typed by any users. It's natural for children to try to test the rules and push the boundaries. So, when they invent new "bad" words by using symbols or alternative spellings, we detect these and add them to the blocked list. This means our blocked list is constantly being updated and revised. Because this is an on-going process, with endless possibilities for new words, some of these words may appear briefly in the chat rooms, but we endeavour to block their usage as quickly as possible.

In addition to restricting chat options, our system will count the number of blocked words used, and the number of warnings attributed to a given user and computer. This means, that even if users go unreported by their peers, our moderators will find them and issue them with either a warning, a block of the user, or a complete IP block in severe cases.

YouTube

It is possible for users to share a YouTube video on MovieStarPlanet. To prevent inappropriate videos from appearing on our website, we use manual as well as automated moderation of YouTube videos. Our website operates with YouTube's most strict filter setting which is called "YouTube Moderation Strict", and we regularly revise and improve our moderation technique and filter settings.

For more information and tips on how to keep your child safe while on YouTube visit their Parent Resource page.

Storing of Data for Safety Reasons

We store all data required by law. MovieStarPlanet does not store personal information for longer than the law prescribes. During this period, personal information is only used to the extent that this agreement allows and in accordance with applicable law. Personal information is stored for security purposes and to prevent, investigate, detect and prosecute potential criminal offences committed against one of our users. MovieStarPlanet reserves the right to disclose personal information to the extent required by law and when we believe that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, the rights of the children, and/or to comply with legal process, court order, or court action concerning our website.

Continuous Development

Dealing with children poses new challenges all the time, and running a website like MovieStarPlanet requires constant development of the game as well as the security features. We are constantly learning and work with Non-Government Organisations (NGO's) involved in child protection such as Save the Children in order to improve the site. We never hesitate to take all necessary steps to address emerging security issues.

Contact Support

Please use the This Form to contact our Support with any questions or concerns about safety on MovieStarPlanet. We aim to reply to all emails within 24 hours.

The People at MovieStarPlanet

At MovieStarPlanet, we work hard to make the site fun and creative, but we work harder to make it safe. Every single day, moderation is being done on MovieStarPlanet.

With sites in Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand, the organisational structure of MovieStarPlanet is important. Each country has a Community Manager who is responsible for coordinating the work on the site and incorporating and improving local issues.

Each country website also has a Support team to assist users and parents who might have specific questions or who need further assistance with issues such as payment or technical difficulties. All supporters are fluent in English as well as the local language.

In addition, each domain has a team of moderators who are native speakers. The moderators deal with reports, do random as well as systematic checks of forums and chat rooms and monitor the site and the interaction on MovieStarPlanet.

For more Information Regarding the Safety of Children Online (English and Spanish):

http://onguardonline.gov/