Facebook sued after girl posts sexually explicit photos

Posted on Sep 8 2011 - 1:31pm by Robert

A man from Northern Ireland has sued social network company Facebook after his 12-year-old daughter posted lewd photos of herself to the site. According to the BBC, the lawsuit called into question if the company does enough or has the capability to verify its users’ age. Facebook bars any person under 13 years old to join the service.

“My own personal view is that Facebook isn’t suitable for under-18s, but the company isn’t even able to uphold its own policy of keeping under-13s out,” said Hilary Carmichael, the complainant’s lawyer. “An age check, like asking for a passport number, would be a simple measure for Facebook to implement.”

The girl posted “sexually explicit” photos of herself, showing the girl in a provocative pose. The photos made her appear much older than her age. Aside from the lewd photos, she also posted information about which school she attends and where she lives.

The plaintiff argued that Facebook has to implement effective verification measures that would confirm a person’s age before allowing him/her to open an account. According to Carmichael, this can be done by using a simple “age check, like asking for a passport number, would be a simple measure for Facebook to implement.”

Fearing for her daughter’s security, the lawyer demanded that the company deactivates the girl’s account or they will file an application to stop Facebook from operating in Northern Ireland.

Facebook said that it is committed to deleting inappropriate photos when a complaint has been made. With over 730 million users worldwide, Facebook is the world’s biggest social networking site and is constantly in the news for one reason or another.

Do you think the age limit should be raised on Facebook?

 

via: The BBC

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