CHRIS SEGAL
Director of Strategic Planning
Facebook started out as a niche Web site for college students to make profiles. There were fewer people on the site than on MySpace and other social networks because users needed to have a valid “.edu” email address to join.
Since the site opened to the general public last fall, sexual predators may be using the site to send inappropriate comments to underage users.
New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is investigating Facebook to see if privacy controls keep younger users safe and whether site managers respond to complaints. Cuomo wrote a letter to Facebook executives stating that while they could run whatever site they want, it is misleading to represent the site as safe, according to The New York Times.
After the site was opened to more than just college students the membership swelled to 42 million users.
The bulk of the attorney general’s complaints come from his office’s investigation of Facebook through creating profiles for underage children. The attorney general’s office created its own Facebook profiles, and had its profile for a 24-year-old send inappropriate requests for nude photos its “underage” profile.
An investigator then posed as a parent and sent the content and a message to Facebook’s Web masters requesting action to test how quickly the cites would respond. The attorney general’s office cites concern because a month went by with no response or action. The 24-year-old user’s profile is still active on Facebook, according to the attorney general’s office.
MySpace responded to similar criticisms last year by checking the profiles of members against a database of sexual predators. Facebook should do the same and actively remove known registered sex offenders.
Facebook claims to take explicit and obscene content very seriously and will quickly remove any content, according to its Web site.
The solicitation of nude pictures on a social network is not a new phenomenon. Since the early days of chat rooms state officials have been concerned and have monitored the solicitation of obscene material from children.
A group that monitors social networks for child predators, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, has not deemed Facebook a cause for concern.
There are two solutions to protecting children on Facebook. The first is to change the claim that the site takes these actions seriously and will be responsible for removing content. There is too much content and too many people to monitor. Facebook can simply say it is a free for all and warn users and parents to use the site safely on their own.
The other solution is to not allow minors onto the site. Only allow people 18 and older who have a more complete understanding of appropriate online behavior and are not targets for child predators.
Facebook is not a parent, it is an online social network and should be treated as such. All users should be aware of the material they are posting since university administrators, friends, family, sex offenders and potential employers or clients may see it.
Facebook has a privacy setting built in that makes it difficult for people outside of someone’s network to view their profile without requesting them as a friend first.
Do not accept friend requests from anyone who you do not know. If someone sends something inappropriate, report it and block that person.
Instead of going after Facebook, which has some of the better safety controls for a social network, investigators should continue to post fake profiles and build cases around individual suspects.
09-27-2007
