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St. Louis Business & Technology News
"When you think Saint Louis, think Saint Louis Front Page," a weekly publication covering the news and events in the greater St. Louis area. 
How To Reach Us:St. Louis Front Page P.O. Box 1354 St. Louis, MO 63188 Voice: 314-771-0200 Fax: 314-771-0300 To submit news, contact: editor@slfp.com To advertise, contact: advertising@slfp.com |
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Facebook Will Enforce "Age Locking" for Existing and New Profiles ST. LOUIS, MO (SLFP.com), May 11, 2008 - The popular social networking site Facebook will initiate significant new safeguards and continue existing ones to help protect children from online predators, under an agreement announced May 8 by Attorney General Jay Nixon and the Attorneys General from 48 other states and the District of Columbia. The Facebook agreement and the accompanying safeguards build upon a ground-breaking agreement in January between the Attorneys General and another leading social networking site, MySpace. Nixon said the agreements with MySpace and Facebook are a result of two years' work by the Attorneys General and have helped set the standards for online safety. "Both Facebook and MySpace have already implemented several recommendations from Attorneys General and other online safety advocates," Nixon said. "Today's agreement sets out the additional steps Facebook will take as part of this broad-based task force that is exploring and developing age and identity verification technology. It is important to remember, however, that the most effective tools in protecting children from dangers online are parents who are actively involved in monitoring and talking to their children about their online activities." The Attorneys General advocate age and identity verification, calling it vital to better protect children using social networking sites from online sexual predators and inappropriate material. The states pushed for changes after sexual predators repeatedly used social networking sites to victimize children. Under the agreement, Facebook will be part of an industry-wide Internet Safety Technical Task Force that is exploring and developing age and identity verification tools for social networking Web sites. The task force, created through the earlier agreement with MySpace, includes social networking sites, age and identification verification experts, child protection groups and technology companies. Last month, the task force released the first of its quarterly reports to the Attorneys General; the group will issue a formal report with findings and recommendations at the end of 2008. Nixon said the agreement with Facebook, like the agreement with MySpace, incorporates four over-arching principles: preventing underage users; protecting younger users from inappropriate content; protecting younger users from inappropriate contact; and providing safety tools for members. Preventing Underage Users: Facebook will enforce "age locking" for existing and new profiles. If members are under 18, or if they want to change their age to indicate they are under 18, the profile must be reviewed by a customer service representative. The site also will grant only a single request to change a member's age above or below the 18-year-old threshold. Protecting Younger Users from Inappropriate Content: Among other actions, Facebook will use technology to block and remove inappropriate images; delete accounts for upload child pornography and refer them to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children; and maintain a list of pornographic sites on an ongoing basis and sever active links to those sites. Protecting Younger Users from Inappropriate Contact: Facebook will identify and remove profiles of registered sex offenders; allow users under 18 to block over-18 users from contacting or viewing them; limit users over 18 from searching users under 18; remove posting of contact information; and prohibit unregistered users from viewing search results in mature groups and forums. Providing Safety Tools for all Members: Both the MySpace and Facebook agreements include providing privacy controls for users; allow users to conceal their "online now" status; promote safety tips on the site, and require under-18 users to affirmatively consent to reviewing the safety tips. Facebook and the Attorneys General also issued a joint statement on key principles of social networking safety. The statement recognizes that an ongoing effort by the online social networking industry is required both to keep pace with the latest technological developments and to develop additional ways to protect teens, including online identity authentication tools.  
The Saint Louis Front Page is owned and maintained by the Moore Design Group for the sole purpose of disseminating news and information about the Metropolitan Saint Louis area. Text or graphics may not be copied, rewritten or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission. For more information, contact editor@slfp.com All rights reserved world wide © 1996 - 2008 Moore Design Group. |
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