Monday, February 11, 2013

Facebook Inviting More Online Predators


Here we go with Facebook again. We all know, Facebook is one of the online playgrounds for online predators and cyber bullying, but regardless, Facebook is looking at whether to legally allow children under 13 to have an account.  According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, Facebook is actively working on policies and controls aimed at allowing younger Facebook users. The article stated, “Mechanisms being tested include connecting children's accounts to their parents' and controls that would allow parents to decide whom their kids can "friend" and what applications they can use.”

But then, according to a Consumer Reports study published in May, there are already 5.6 million kids aged 12 and under with Facebook accounts, with 800,000 harassed or subjected to cyber bullying on the social network. And of these children the majority of parents knew they were on Facebook and did not talk with them about how to stay safe from online predators or cyber bullies nor monitored their Facebook activities.

Should Facebook change their policy to legally allow under 13 year olds to have an account so these parents do not have to lie about their children’s age?

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