A new Islamic social networking site will be launched in Indonesia in November, and will offer "better protection" for young Muslims from "harmful content." The Beta version of the site Salamworld is currently being tested by some 1,000 users worldwide.

"Salamworld is a global social network platform which is built on Islamic values that aim to show the potential of Muslims worldwide uniting," brand manager of Salamworld Erol Toksoy said in a press conference, as quoted by Antara news agency on Monday.

"This social network will eliminate the barriers between Muslims in the world. With God willing, by November we will launch it globally," Erol added.

While other global social networks sites such as Facebook and Twitter focus on individuals with personal profiles, Salamworld will present postings based on group interests, such as architects, cars, paintings and businesses, just to name a small variety of topics.

"The [users] don't have to waste the time seeing content they don't want to see, because users can choose according to their interests," Erol said, pointing to the news feed feature of Facebook. "We don't want to replace Facebook, but we want to present something new," Erol said.

Salamworld will allow users to share ideas, business opportunities, or simply help those who are seeking friends. There will be several applications available on the sites, including online counseling, library, education modules, city guides, games and many others.

The users of Salamworld will also be able to link to their Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Salamworld also offers a social network that allows only Halal content, or material allowed under Islamic law, ensuring that the the site will "be free from dangerous or indecent content such as sex or illegal drugs."

The chairman of the Salamworld board of directors called his site the "cleaner version of Facebook," according to arabnews.com.

"By filtering out harmful content and ensuring that its pages uphold and respect family values, Salamworld can be described as 'Halal Facebook,' the new social networking phenomenon," the chairman noted. "Some 300 million Muslims use the Internet, and about half use social networks. Unfortunately, none are managed by Muslims."

Ahmad Azimov, deputy chairman of Salamworld, said they wanted Muslims to engage with technology instead of cursing it as an evil. "As a Muslim, religion and businesses are not separable... whatever you do for business has to be in line with your religious principles and values," he said.

Erol said that besides Muslims, non Muslims can also join the social network as long as they respect Islamic values. The site will set the minimum age for users at 15 years old. The sites will be available in eight languages including English, Arabic, Turkish, Urdu and Russian.