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Here at ReadWriteWeb, we encourage safer Internet use. We try to bring you the stories that help you navigate the World Wide Interwebs.

So we wanted to make sure you know that today is Safer Internet Day, and it's meant especially for children and young people. Past Safer Internet Day themes have focused on cyberbullying and social networking. This year's very apropos topic is "connecting generations." How do we make sure everyone on the Internet - from young kids to grandparents - feel safe?

Safer Internet Day began as an initiative of the EU SafeBorders project in 2004. Today more than 70 countries worldwide on six of the seven continents participate. Take a look at the map after the jump.

Google has launched a consumer education campaign called Good to Know, which is designed to teach new users of high tech about safety, security and data management online. It's a walk-through with four sections: Stay safe online, Your data on the web, Your data on Google and Manage your data. Each section contains an organized brochure of topics with some instructional diagrams and videos.

Google calls Good to Know its "biggest-ever consumer education campaign." It began with ad campaigns in the U.K. and Germany last fall. The ads highlight security tips like using Google's 2-step verification and checking websites for secure HTTPS connections. The campaign will now be extended to the U.S. with print and Web ads, as well as display ads in New York and Washington D.C. subway stations.

The knee-jerk reaction to yesterday's news that the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok had used Twitter to quickly spread information about a terrorist threat appear to have been blown out of proportion.

While there is no denying that Facebook, Twitter and other social networks help spread critical information when emergencies strike, they can still be problematic and ineffective when compared to other forms of communication. Even the Bangkok terror alert was met with initial skepticism, and while the embassy has close to 40,000 Twitter followers, many of those were not in the area of the threat.

Everloop, the social network for kids ages 8-13, recently launched EverText, the first-ever 24/7 moderated SMS feature available on all mobile phones and major carriers.

Kids will now be able to use Everloop directly from their mobile phones by texting status updates to the network. Parents can moderate the number of texts a kid can use by selecting a monthly limit, ranging from unlimited to 250 texts per month. Everloop automatically sets the limit at 100. Once the child reaches their limit, parents will receive a note.

Today, Facebook announced the launch of several new tools aimed at making the social network a safer and more secure experience for everyone involved. Some of the tools, like the redesigned Family Safety Center and social reporting buttons, are designed to combat the ongoing issue of cyberbullying, which primarily affects the younger Facebook population. Meanwhile, other new tools will be helpful to everyone, like the option to enable an advanced security feature called Two Factor Authentication and the improvements to HTTPS.

All of the new features are available now, says Facebook.

As mobile phones become more ubiquitous, they are undoubtedly changing how we respond to and record crises. We can report emergencies and call for help in real-time, rather than having to drive to the nearest phone. But we haven't really built these networks out fully and taken advantage of all the power of the mobile phone to send text messages, phone calls, conference calls, photos, and instant messages - not just to the authorities but to friends and family.

Enter Guardly, a new app from a Toronto-based startup that arrives on iPhone today.

Facebook is launching a new security measure that is clearly a response to the recent threats caused by numerous rogue applications that have spread virally across the social network. According to news from the Facebook Developers blog, all application developers must now verify their Facebook account by either confirming a mobile phone number or adding a credit card to their account.

The new procedure aims to cut down on the number of rogue applications created by hackers and spammers by forcing developers to share personally identifiable information. Unfortunately, say multiple security researchers, verification alone is not enough to stop these malicious apps.

Earlier this week we asked if Facebook had grown to the point that it needed its own anti-malware service and - would you look at this! - now it has one. Well, sort of.

The well-known security company Symantec has released an anti-malware service for Facebook which protects you from dangerous links posted to your News Feed. And it comes to you by way of a free Facebook application called "Norton Safe Web."

Togetherville is a new social networking site launching today that's aimed at young children under 10-years-old. Although some parents may balk at the idea of children this young establishing a social networking identity and presence, the purpose of the new service is to provide a training ground where parents can teach their kids important lessons about online communication, community building and what it means to be a good digital citizen.

Mozilla, the organization behind the Firefox web browser, introduced a "plugin checker" page last fall that analyzed whether the plugins you had installed in your web browser were up to date. Now that tool has been updated to check plugins installed in other web browsers too, including Safari, Chrome, Opera and Internet Explorer.

According to the Director of Firefox Development, Johnathan Nightingale, plugin safety is an issue across the web. "Outdated plugins are a major source of security and stability risk for web users," he wrote in a recent company blog post.