Anam launches anti-bullying service for mobile text

Ireland-based SMS company Anam has announced the launch of anti-bullying service with mobile operator O2. Block It is a free service that allows users to stop text, picture and video messages coming from other phones.

As the mobile phone has become ubiquitous amongst all age categories, “mobile bullying” has become a problem in schools all over the world. The psychological effects of SMS taunting are a major concern – especially as pre-pay phones can be difficult to trace. The Anam solution is very simple – just block them. Block It allows any O2 customer to block incoming SMS or MMS from any mobile number. The service is simple to use – you just text “BLOCK” to a shortcode, along with the number you want to be blocked. The same method can be used to unblock a number.

From the release:

Gerry McKenna, CEO of Anam: “Instances of text bullying have increased rapidly, not only in Ireland but globally. It is a big problem and has caused a lot of distress for many young people. Here at Anam, we are very pleased to be helping O2 consumers beat bullying on mobile phones.”

Damian Devaney, Marketing Director, Telefónica O2 Ireland: “Bullying is unacceptable behaviour which we all have a role to play in trying to combat. While the problem of bullying is not a new one, the ways in which it happens are changing. In recognition of this, we have launched Block It which has been specifically designed to empower our younger customers, allowing them to get on with their lives without the fear of receiving unwanted hurtful or mean text, video or picture messages.”

What we think?

This isn’t the first implementation of this service – Telenor already has it in place. It’s free, useful and uses existing technology. It’s the kind of service that you would imagine should already exist on the operator level.