Facebook, N.Y. attorney general reach accord

NEW YORK--Facebook appears to be making peace with New York's aggressive attorney general, Andrew M. Cuomo.

At a press conference on Tuesday afternoon at Cuomo's office in downtown Manhattan, the attorney general along with Facebook vice president and chief privacy officer Chris Kelly unveiled a joint plan to address concerns about sexual predators on the fast-growing social-networking site.

"This did start out as an investigation," Kelly explained to the room full of reporters and photographers, "but it has turned into a great cooperative effort that we hope the whole industry will follow."

Cuomo had subpoenaed Facebook last month, claiming that an undercover investigation into the social network had revealed that it misrepresents how safe its service is for minors. His office had issued an open letter to the Mark Zuckerberg-founded company, explaining that investigators posing as underage users of the site (12 to 14 years old) were "repeatedly solicited by adult sexual predators" and that Facebook's response to complaints about harassment was slow at best.

In Tuesday's press conference, Kelly acknowledged that Facebook had "slipped a little bit" in its attentiveness to safety concerns. Cuomo called the end result a "successful conclusion."

With the new plan, Facebook will place user complaints about "nudity, pornography, harassment, (and) unwelcome contact" into a high-priority category that will require a response from the site within 24 hours. "We're committing to a 24-hour service level on addressing those complaints," Kelly asserted. These complaints can be filed anonymously through new links throughout Facebook's site.

Some language on the site will also be altered to make it clear to concerned parents that neither Facebook nor any other site on the Internet is wholly safe for children.

Additionally, Cuomo's office will approve a third-party Independent Safety and Security Examiner (ISSE) to monitor and report on the site for the next two years. A "prominent and easily accessible hyperlink" will allow Facebook users or their parents to provide feedback to the watchdog group.

When asked how the ISSE, who has not yet been appointed, would be compensated, Cuomo responded with two words: "Facebook pays."

Facebook, according to Kelly, now has over 47 million users, 80 percent of which are over the age of 18. Nevertheless, any Web site that's in the spotlight the way Facebook has been for the past few months will experience a degree of legal scrutiny from authorities concerned about children's safety--social networking's last poster child, the News Corp.-owned MySpace, was the target of extensive inquiries on the part of several states' attorneys general with regard to the presence of registered sex offenders on the site.

"We are in discussion with other sites," Cuomo said when asked if his office was targeting any other social networks the way it did with Facebook, but he would not provide any specifics.

[ferretboy88]

I'm going to sue him

The Democrats in Ny have said that by giving Illegal immigrants drivers licenses it will lower my insurance fees. Since they are suing because facebook has said its going to be saver i'm suing if my insurance doesn't go down.The democrat way is to sue if you want something gone. A company or online service.

[kingsnoofer]

Misdirected anger

I wouls sue the school system if I were you. It has failed you.

[ancl87]

This could have been avoided

This could have easily been avoided if Facebook stuck to its roots of staying only with college students. I liked the fact that Facebook used to require a college email to get a membership with them. Now anyone can join allowing for more people who you don't want on a networking site access. While requiring a school email will not keep out all pedophiles and sex predators it will certainly help by preventing just anyone from joining. Also when 13 year olds aren't able to join the pedophiles have no one to look for making the network that much safer.

[fb6691]

RE: This could have been avoided

Yes and they could have avoided their current valuation as well. This is just one of the many issues that they will have to deal with.

[kingsnoofer]

Where to draw the line?

I want to sue the person that invented streets. That's right. Streets. My daughter has been approached many times on her way to school or the mall by passing vehicles and pedestrians, trying to intice her into joining them. I don't want to drive her everywhere. I don't want to have to be inconvenienced to the point where it seems like I'm responsible for her safety. Remove the streets and we remove that problem. Screw the drivers that need the roads. They aren't important. What's important is that I don't have to watch over my kids, to protect them, to keep them safe. Why should I have to be concerned over their safety? I'm only the parent. It's easier to sue somebody for not doing my duty than to do it myself.

[PzkwVIb]

Finally

a voice of reason crying out in a vast wilderness full of idiots.

Delicious sarcasm. Well said!

[Jesse Chan]

What about the open platform?

What people are not realizing is that this is just a small piece of privacy when dealing with Facebook. What happens when aggregated information knows exposes everything about you? http://fishtrain.com/2007/09/28/what-happens-when-a-social-graph-is-compromised/

[kingsnoofer]

Huh?

Not quite sure what your post means. But I think it might have something to do with the information people can know about you through Facebook. I am not concerned. On Facebook is my name, birthday, and contact email. Oh also where I work. Sure this is useful info for someone up to no good. But all that info is readily available through other channels if you know where to look.