Facebook to Improve Safety

Facebook to Improve Safety

Facebook promises to better police itself following a New York Attorney General investigation.

Robert McMillan, IDG News Service

Wednesday, October 17, 2007 6:00 AM PDT

Facebook Inc. will step up the policing of pornography, harassment and inappropriate behavior on its social networking site, settling a consumer fraud investigation by New York State Attorney General (AG).

Facebook users can now report complaints about pornography, harassment or inappropriate contact either by clicking on links on the Web site or by sending email to the abuse@facebook.com address. The company will respond to these complaints within 24 hours, and it will allow an independent examiner appointed with the approval of the New York AG, to monitor the company's compliance for the next two years.

The social networking site has been in hot water with attorneys general throughout the U.S. over perceptions it is a haven for pornography and sexual predators. Late last month, the New York AG's office subpoenaed Facebook documents and sent CEO Mark Zuckerberg a letter detailing preliminary findings of an investigation into Facebook's safety measures.

Investigators posing as minors on Facebook were repeatedly solicited by adult predators, and the site did a poor job of responding to complaints from investigators posing as minors or their parents, Cuomo's office said.

Not all attorneys general were satisfied with the New York settlement. Late Tuesday Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said that more needed to be done.

His office issued a statement calling for Facebook to add age and identity verification for users 18 and older, filtering technology that would weed out inappropriate content, and a variety of other steps to protect minors.

"New York's settlement with Facebook is a step forward, but giant strides are needed to make the site safer," Blumenthal said in the statement. "We will explore all options -- including possible legal action."

(Source: http://www.pcworld.com/)

Facebook Steps Up Complaint Handling To Appease Attorney General

By Scott Gilbertson October 17, 2007 | 8:52:21 AM

Facebook has apparently made good with the New York State attorney general who has been investigating the site's response and handling of complaints as part of a child safety probe. As we reported last month, the attorney general of New York began investigating Facebook after receiving complaints that Facebook wasn't doing enough to protect users from sexual predators.

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo tells Reuters, “social networking sites, [are] popular among young people, have quickly gained members and appeal, but also act as a magnet for those who would prey on the young.”

As part of the settlement, Facebook will now begin responding to any complaint within 24 hours of being notified about inappropriate content — things like nudity, profanity or harassment. Facebook will then notify the complaining party of the steps it has taken within 72 hours.

The deal with Cuomo’s office will also see Facebook taking on an independent examiner to monitor how well Facebook handles and responds to complaints.

Today’s announcement doesn’t mean Facebook is off the hook just yet. Investigations from the attorney general of New Jersey, as well as another from a group of attorneys general representing all 50 states, are still ongoing.

Similar charges and investigations have also dogged MySpace, which has since released software to help parents monitor their child’s usage of the site.

 (Source: http://blog.wired.com/)

Facebook to Roll Out More Member Protection

Wednesday, October 17th 2007 @ 11:10 AM PDT

As part of a settlement with New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, social networking site Facebook has agreed to implement new protections on its service to better respond to complains of abuse, harassment, or inappropriate content, and will also open its operations to independent compliance examiner for the next two years.

Under the new terms, Facebook will response to any complaint about online harassment and abuse, or the presence of nudity or pornography on the site within 24 hours: Facebook users just need to contact abuse@facebook.com. Facebook has also agreed to have its compliance monitored by an Independent Safety and Security Examiner (ISSE), who will be approved by the New York Attorney General.

The settlement agreement comes a month after New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo subpoenaed documents from the social networking site as it investigated allegations of obscene content on the site and charges sex predators were using the service as a hunting ground. Facebook has consistently claimed it social networking service is safe for minors, but the New York AG found that, when posing as underage users on the site, its investigators were repeatedly solicited by adult sexual predators and could easily locate and access pornographic content.

In a statement, Facebook's chief privacy office Chris Kelly said that privacy has always been a "core tenet" of the service, and the company plans to develop new mechanisms to enhance the online safety of its users that go beyond the terms of the agreement with the New York AG.