Facebook Falls Prey to MySpace’s Sex Offender Problem

I remember when Facebook was considered a safe environment for students to share personal information. But now the same problems that have plagued MySpace are cropping up on Facebook. The New York Times reports that New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s office is investigating sexual predators on Facebook:

But about a week after an investigator from Mr. Cuomo’s office set up a profile for a fictitious 14-year-old girl on Aug. 30, a 24-year-old man sent a message through Facebook asking her for “nude pics,” Mr. Cuomo said.

The investigator, also posing as the fictitious girl’s mother, sent an e-mail message to Facebook complaining about the man’s request. Facebook responded that it would review the message and remove any posts that violated its rules. But in his letter, Mr. Cuomo said that Facebook had taken no action as of yesterday, and that the 24-year-old man’s profile was still on the site.

One key difference between Facebook and MySpace anyone who wants a extra layer of protection can remove their names, profile pictures and other information from search results. Sexual predators can’t prey on people they can’t find. That was never an option on MySpace.

I don’t mean to insinuate that technology is a full solution to a serious problem, but I don’t think that Facebook’s problem will ever become as entrenched as MySpace.

Welcome to our community! If you like what you see, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed!