Monday, February 07, 2011

Takeover is the theme of CBBC programmes for this half-term. Presumably the channel will be running repeats of programmes like Gimme a Break, Remote Control Star and Project Parent. Of course kids aren't really in charge - it's just a pretence that they are.

Pretence isn't just limited to programme making, it's also a problem on the Internet as Daniel Roche, of Outnumbered and Just William fame found out.

Newsround 5pm this evening -

Ore: Last year some of his mates thought they were chatting to him on Facebook. It turned out they were talking to a complete stranger - someone pretending to be him online.

Leah: Things got serious when the impostor tried to arrange to meet one of Daniel's friends. Now with Safer Internet Day taking place this week, Daniel wanted to tell us his story.

Ricky Eleven-year-old Daniel. Famous for playing cheeky Ben in Outnumbered. He's never signed up to Facebook - he knows you have to be 13 or over to have an account. So imagine how surprised he was when his friends said they found him online. It turned out to be a fake Facebook page created by a stranger.

Daniel: They mentioned if I had a Facebook account and I said 'no.' They said 'oh' and they showed it to me and mum and we were a bit bewildered and we kind of looked at it a bit and we researched it and he was pretending to be me.

Ricky: The Facebook impostor contacted some of Daniel's schoolfriends, and even tried to arrange a meeting with one girl.

Those lucky enough to have a very good Internet connection can watch the full report here. Last year's Newsround Special about keeping safe on the Internet: Caught in the Web is available here, and is being repeated at 4.55pm tomorrow on BBC One.

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