Digital Journal — Forget MySpace pedophiles. Now Facebook is facing flak for ignoring user complaints about sexual predators trawling the social-networking site. New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced today that his office is investigating Facebook over its safety measures.
In a letter accompanying a subpoena for documents, Cuomo warned the company that a preliminary review conducted by his office exposed several critical problems. The letter accused the site of being lax in following up on user complaints about lewd comments made by sexual predators.
Cuomo addressed the letter to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, and included several scathing comments:
It appears that Facebook has not significantly altered its representations about safety and inappropriate content on the site. Nor is it evident that Facebook has improved its security and safety measures to reflect the presence of a significant community under the age of 18.
The subpoena is a result of weeks of an undercover investigation contacted by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG). Posing as underage users on the site, investigators were repeatedly solicited by older men within days of joining Facebook. Cuomo said some of the messages sent to these underage profiles included:
I’d love to get off on cam for you hun
call me if u want to do sex with me [number deleted] ok
The OAG staff lodged complaints masquerading as the young users, but Facebook took no action and ignored the messages. In one case, Facebook didn’t do anything about a 24-year-old man who asked one of the fake underage girls “do you have any nude pics?” A day after a complaint was sent to the site, Facebook replied with its standard message that it will “will review the reported material and remove anything that violates our Terms of Use.” The profile belonging to the 24-year-old still remains on the site, Cuomo said.
In addition, the OAG stressed the problems associated with pornographic content on the site. Cuomo wrote:
There are also a large number of Facebook Groups dedicated solely to hosting or promoting pornographic content, such as ‘Best Wet t-shirt or best boobie pic contest’ and ‘for girls that love to share naked pics.’ Underage users are free to view or join any of these groups without restriction.
Cuomo is playing hard ball by requesting Facebook’s policies on safety and security issues, as well as its method of resolving complaints. The OAG is also asking for any complaints received by Facebook regarding underage sexual solicitation.
Facebook has not yet replied to these allegations.
