Facebook Beefs Up Security Against Online Predators, Bullies
Posted on: Friday, 9 May 2008, 01:00 CDT
Facebook, is stepping up its efforts to protect its younger users from sexual predators through the addition of more than 40 new safeguards initiated in conjunction with U.S. officials.
The increasingly popular social networking site currently boasts more than 70 million active users worldwide, and claims the new safeguards will ban convicted sex offenders from joining its site, as well as adding new methods of age verification.
"The agreement marks another watershed step toward social networking safety, protecting kids from online predators and inappropriate content," said Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who announced the agreement Thursday with other state officials.
Officials from Washington, D.C., and 49 states have signed the agreement.
"Building a safe and trusted online experience has been part of Facebook from its outset," said Chris Kelly, Facebook's chief privacy officer.
"The attorneys general have shown great leadership in helping to address the critical issue of Internet safety, and we commend them for continuing to set high standards for all players in the online arena."
However, Texas officials did not sign on, citing the need for the sites to work faster on verifying users’ ages and identities.
"Social networks that encourage kids to come to their sites have a responsibility to keep those kids safe," North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper said.
"We've now gotten the two largest social networking sites to agree to take significant steps to protect children from predators and pornography."
Networks like Facebook and Myspace have become new outlets for sexual predators who use the Web to conceal their identity as they lure young victims to chat.
“Cyberbullying” is another trend that has emerged from online social networks. Cyberbullies are able to send threatening and anonymous messages to classmates, acquaintances and other users.
John Palfrey, executive director of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, said research shows online bullies are far more common than sexual predators.
"It's very rare for an adult to meet a child on a social network and to do them harm, although the ones that do occur get a huge amount of attention, and they are terrible," he said.
The issue has been highlighted by news of the suicide of 13-year-old Megan Meier, who hung herself after falling victim to a series of harmful messages from a Myspace friend, who turned out to be fictional, invented by two acquaintances and the mother of one of those girls.
"What's going on online is not much different than bullying on the playground," Palfrey said. "It just happens to be playing out in public spaces where kids are spending a lot of time online."
Facebook has also changed policies in order to keep tobacco and alcohol ads from users too young to purchase those products, remove groups whose comments or images suggest they may involve incest, pedophilia, bullying or other inappropriate content, end warning messages when a child is in danger of giving personal information to an adult and review users' profiles when they ask to change their age.
Facebook has also agreed to be part of a Harvard-based task force in January under the national agreement with MySpace.
“We're entering a new era in social networking safety," Blumenthal said. "This agreement is open-ended in envisioning advances in technology that will permit even stronger steps in the future toward protecting kids' safety."
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Source: redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports
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