Facebook safety under scrutiny
Noah Cohen
Issue date: 9/28/07 Section: News
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New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced Sept. 24 that his office has subpoenaed Facebook as part of an investigation into how the web site protects underage users from sexually explicit content, according a press release.
The subpoena was issued after investigators in Cuomo's office, posing as minors set up profiles and quickly received sexual advances from adults, according to the release.
"Within days of opening these accounts, the OAG received numerous sexual solicitations from adults sent to several of the underage profiles," read the statement.
Cuomo is alleging that Facebook is engaging in deceptive business practices by marketing itself as a safe social networking web site.
An investigator posing as a fourteen-year-old girl received messages saying, "do you have any nude pics?" according to a statement.
The investigators also received a message saying "call me if u want to do sex with me" which included a phone number.
"The OAG is concerned that Facebook's public statements and advertising may be materially misleading and may constitute violations of the New York General Business Law" said a letter sent to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Cuomo's letter cited a portion of the "Safety" web site on Facebook.com which explains that Facebook will act quickly to remove "objectionable material."
The undercover investigators who received the sexual content filed a complaint with Facebook, this time posing as the parents of the underage child.
"My 13 YEAR OLD received this extremely inappropriate message from a local NYC man. Please take action IMMEDIATELY," wrote one undercover investigator to Facebook.
Cuomo said Facebook was slow to respond and ignored the report altogether in some cases, contradicting the claims made on its safety web site.
Statements made by Facebook Chief Privacy Officer Chris Kelly in a July 30, 2007 New York Times article were also cited as misleading by Cuomo.
The subpoena was issued after investigators in Cuomo's office, posing as minors set up profiles and quickly received sexual advances from adults, according to the release.
"Within days of opening these accounts, the OAG received numerous sexual solicitations from adults sent to several of the underage profiles," read the statement.
Cuomo is alleging that Facebook is engaging in deceptive business practices by marketing itself as a safe social networking web site.
An investigator posing as a fourteen-year-old girl received messages saying, "do you have any nude pics?" according to a statement.
The investigators also received a message saying "call me if u want to do sex with me" which included a phone number.
"The OAG is concerned that Facebook's public statements and advertising may be materially misleading and may constitute violations of the New York General Business Law" said a letter sent to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Cuomo's letter cited a portion of the "Safety" web site on Facebook.com which explains that Facebook will act quickly to remove "objectionable material."
The undercover investigators who received the sexual content filed a complaint with Facebook, this time posing as the parents of the underage child.
"My 13 YEAR OLD received this extremely inappropriate message from a local NYC man. Please take action IMMEDIATELY," wrote one undercover investigator to Facebook.
Cuomo said Facebook was slow to respond and ignored the report altogether in some cases, contradicting the claims made on its safety web site.
Statements made by Facebook Chief Privacy Officer Chris Kelly in a July 30, 2007 New York Times article were also cited as misleading by Cuomo.
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