Facebook Changing

Facebook Changing

Originally published in Brooklyn College Kingsman (Oct. 22nd, 2007)

Social networking web site Facebook announced yesterday a new content control system, to be overseen by an independent observer, at the New York State Attorney General’s office.
    The announcement was made by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and Chris Kelly, Facebook’s chief privacy officer. “It started as an investigation, and it ended as a cooperation,” said Cuomo, referring to the complaints his office received from parents concerning Facebook.
    The agreement contained three changes that Facebook will implement. Parents will be given clearer disclosure on the content advisory, including a warning that Facebook, like any website of its nature, “cannot guarantee that members will not encounter inappropriate... [or] pornographic... content.”

    Facebook also agreed to streamline the complaint system for inappropriate content. Under the changes, a button will be added to every page that will allow users to flag it for inappropriate content, web links, or harassment. Facebook will have to respond to these complaints within 24 hours, and will contact the parents of underage complainants.
    “Facebook will have the safest interaction of any site on the Internet,” said Cuomo, adding “We’ve established a new model for child protection on the Internet.”
    To ensure these complaints are being handled, an independent examiner will be set up to inspect Facebook’s compliance with the agreement. The examiner will be selected and paid for by Facebook, but must be approved by the attorney general.
    “I believe this will give us a competitive edge, because this is what people want,” said Kelly, who was confident that the agreement would attract users, not turn them away. Facebook was created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg as a web site for social interaction between college students, and now has over 47 million members. Kelly estimated that around 80 percent of all users are over 18, and that the site can receive up to tens of thousands of complaints a day.
    When asked if there were plans in the works to persuade other social networking sites to use the system, Cuomo said “we are in discussion with other sites,” but refused to name any of them.