Seventeen Internet companies, including Microsoft Europe, Myspace, Facebook, Google/YouTube and Yahoo! Europe, have reached an agreement with the European Commission on measures aimed at protecting teens using online social networks, TelecomPaper reported Tuesday.

The measures are being put in place in hopes they will protect children from cyberbullying, sexual abuse and incurring risks by releasing private information.

A user-friendly "report abuse" button on the Web sites will allow users to report inappropriate behaviour, ensure the privacy in terms of profiles and contact lists of teens under 18 and also prevent under-age users from accessing such services, according to TelecomPaper.

The EC has also released an online video to raise awareness among young Internet users about the risks of cyberbullying and how they can protect themselves.

In Europe, online social networking sites have 41.7 million regular users, a number that is expected to grow to 107.4 million by 2012, according to EC data, the Netherlands-based TelecomPaper reported.