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Trenton,
NJ -- The attorneys general of 49 states
and the District of Columbia today announced
that the social networking site Facebook
has agreed to changes to protect children
from predators and inappropriate content,
and to participate in a task force on implementation
of age and identity verification software.
The agreement incorporates a six-month test
of New Jersey’s ground-breaking Report
Abuse! icon, which was developed last year
by Attorney General Anne Milgram and adopted
by the social networking sites of the Community
Connect group and MyYearbook to make it
easier for Internet users to identify and
quickly report inappropriate, abusive or
potentially illegal activities on-line.
”We
may not be able to stop people from posting
inappropriate or unlawful messages on the
Internet, but there must be a way to report
it and there must be a response,’’
First Assistant Attorney General John M.
Vazquez said. “The icon empowers users
to report predators, cyber bullies and objectionable
content.”
"Building a safe and trusted online
experience has been part of Facebook
from its outset," said Chris Kelly,
chief privacy officer at Facebook. "We
look forward to working with the New Jersey
Attorney General to continue improving our
technology and policy solutions to better
protect users online."
The
agreement with Facebook is similar to one
that MySpace reached in January with 49
states and the District of Columbia. In
February, Facebook joined the Internet Safety
Technical Task Force, which is led by experts
at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society
at Harvard Law School, to develop on-line
safety tools and age and identity authentication
tools for social networking sites.
The
National Association of Attorneys General
task force on Internet Safety has been lead
for the last two years by Connecticut Attorney
General Richard Blumental and North Carolina
Attorney General Roy Cooper.
As
part of the agreement, Facebook will provide
automatic warning messages when a child
is in danger of giving personal information
to an unknown adult; restrict the ability
of users to change their listed ages; act
aggressively to remove inappropriate content
and groups from the site; and require third
party vendors to adhere to Facebook’s
safety and privacy guidelines.
Facebook also has agreed to maintain a list
of pornographic websites and regularly sever
any links to such sites. It will remove
groups for incest, pedophilia, cyberbullying
and other violations of the site’s
terms of services, as well as expel from
the site individual violators of those terms.
Facebook also will more prominently display
safety tips and require users under 18 to
affirm they have read Facebook’s safety
tips when they sign up.
The Report Abuse! icon trial will be on
randomly selected video pages. When the
icon is clicked, Facebook will offer users
links to safety tips, a place they can write
comments, and a place where they can block
the offender. Facebook will also include
language that directs the reporting user
to dial 911 in the event of an emergency,
especially if they believe someone’s
safety is at risk.
Attorney
General Milgram unveiled the Report Abuse!
icon last September with representatives
of MyYearbook.com and Community Connect,
which owns and operates five multi-cultural
social networking sites including BlackPlanet.com,
MiGene,com, and AsianAve.com.
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