Facebook's legal issues escalate as N.Y. attorney general strengthens warnings
The office of New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has stepped up its warnings against social-networking site Facebook, with a representative from the office saying the company may face a consumer fraud charge for misrepresenting how safe the site is for minors. The problem, according to an Associated Press story, is that Facebook claims its closed-site model makes the service safer for minors than other social networks, and that privacy and harassment concerns receive prompt responses.
The attorney general's office says those asserations simply aren't true. "We expect an immediate correction eliminating the dangers exposed by our investigation," AG spokesman Jeffrey Lerner told the AP. Lerner added that now that Facebook has grown far beyond its roots as a small social-networking site that required a .edu e-mail address from select colleges to access content, stronger safety tactics are necessary.
Last week, Cuomo's office issued an open letter (click here for PDF) to Facebook accompanied by a subpoena for documents, claiming that an undercover investigation revealed that investigators posing as young users of the site (12 to 14 years old) were "repeatedly solicited by adult sexual predators." The most troubling part, the attorney general's office asserted, was that Facebook apparently had been slow or unresponsive in addressing many of the complaints that were lodged as investigators posed as both minors and parents of minors.
"We take the concerns of the Office of the New York Attorney General very seriously," Facebook representative Brandee Barker told the press in a statement. "As our service continues to grow, so does our responsibility to our users to empower them with the tools necessary to communicate efficiently and safely...We are committed to working closely with all the state attorneys general to maintain a trusted environment for all Facebook users and to demonstrate the efficacy of these efforts."
Facebook confirmed to CNET News.com that it has not yet issued an updated statement to reflect the newer threat of a consumer fraud charge.
To Web users following the social media phenomenon, this is almost--but not quite--a rehash of the situation earlier this year in which a group of state attorneys general requested that MySpace, then at the forefront of U.S. social networking, turn over the names of registered sex offenders with profiles on the site.
MySpace initially responded that state and federal privacy laws stood in the way of disclosing that data, but the News Corp.-owned site eventually complied and turned over the requested information.
Caroline McCarthy, a CNET News staff writer, is a downtown Manhattanite happily addicted to social-media tools and restaurant blogs. Her pre-CNET resume includes interning at an IT security firm and brewing cappuccinos. E-mail Caroline. 
premise that you had to have an .edu email address. This would
ensure that your registration was deemed of a school nature.
Opening that gate up to allow .com,.net,.org, etc, email address'
had to stem up some discussion when it was proposed. To say
that there wasn't would be fraudulent in every case.
The reality here is that Facebook willingly and knowingly opened
up the proverbial pot to ensure a wider audience. And, after how
many episodes of "To Catch a Predator" by NBC using the very
Social Networking for it's investigation had to of sparked
controversy there at Facebook headquarters.
With that said, some form of discipline is needed for Entities like
this to ensure that safety of MY KIDS and YOURS!
Justin
Tech01.net
FaceBook also seems to have several privacy concerns.
Now FaceBook is being accused of helping to connect minors to predators.
lol - classy
- by td02131 May 1, 2009 6:48 PM PDT
- I had a facebook account for awhile, I didn?t use it much for over a year, maybe more. I added a friend at the friend's request and within a few days I ended up adding dozens of friends through a network of friends (close to 100). I was a prominent member of an organization of which former members now seek support through networking tools like facebook.
- Reply to this comment
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(3 Comments)In addition to adding many friends I did have some nude pictures on there, I admit that I did not read the fine print and I thought that only a few friends could see the pictures.
I?m a little surprised that freedoms are surpressed and censorship is so punitive when facebook friendships are restricted to only those you allow to see your account. What happens between friends is the business of facebook? I was sharing pictures with close friends only. I wouldn?t want my mom to see them, therefore I wouldn?t accept her as a friend. Without warning my account was disabled.
I have mixed feelings about it. I question how ?private? facebook is and I question their ?punishment.? There was never an opportunity to correct the situation, which I would have gladly done. I question the ?right? facebook has to allow you to establish a network that they arbitrarily take away, without any kind of due process there will be friends with which I will never be able to reconnect.
There are limits to how much any business can regulate or censor its customers, even violate their constitutional rights, when they invite the public to their business. If I am in a store and the store doesn?t like a picture I show a friend, can the store kick me out? Can they ban me from the store permanently? How far does public policy allow us to go with the censorship?
Facebook is a private company, but so is the telephone company and they can't disconnect a call because they don?t like the subject of my conversation. The post office is not public and they can't refuse to deliver mail for which they find the contents offensive. If I violate the policies of the phone company, post office or any store they do not have the right to dismiss me permanently without a warning, notice or hearing. Personally, I think it is a lawsuit waiting to happen.
Generally harm or loss must attach. In addition to the emotional distress people suffer, what about the connections people make to stay with others around the world? When those connections are lost, it isn?t difficult to calculate a monetary loss. In addition to many other scenarios, there may even be medical or healthcare advice being exchanged that could cause serious injury or death. I realize that facebook is putting the public on ?notice? when it has the policy online. However, those wrap-around or adhesion contracts do not stand up in every state. Facebook should have an expectation that they could be hauled into court in any jurisdicton through long arm statutes and international treaty. I?m sure they address that in their ?contract? as well, but, again, those don?t always stand up.
What?s also interesting is that apparently some receive a warning and some do not. This is but one of the warnings found on facebook?s ?help center warnings.?
?You received this warning because a photo or video that you uploaded has been removed for violating Facebook?s Terms of Use. Photos and videos containing nudity, drug use, or other graphic content are not allowed, nor are photos or videos that depict violence or that attack an individual or group. Unfortunately, for technical reasons, we are unable to provide further information about the removed content. In order to prevent this from happening in the future, please refrain from posting photos or videos of this kind and remove any that still exist on the site.?
http://www.facebook.com/help.php?page=421
Apparently there are different standards for different individuals. It would be interesting to see the different standards used for different groups. In other words, is facebook discriminating? Does facebook have less tolerance for gays, lesbians, blacks, hispanics, women, etc.? They invited the public, they have to play by the rules of our society. The rules include some constitutional rights. While it is true that I don't have to join facebook anymore than I have to go to a store, it is also true that no one ever said facebook had to open a business and invite the public.