Attorney General's News Release

May 8, 2008

Facebook reaches nationwide agreement with Nixon, 49 other AGs to help protect children from online predators

The popular social networking site Facebook will initiate significant new safeguards and continue existing ones to help protect children from online predators, under an agreement announced today by Attorney General Jay Nixon and the Attorneys General from 48 other states and the District of Columbia.

The Facebook agreement and the accompanying safeguards build upon a ground-breaking agreement in January between the Attorneys General and another leading social networking site, MySpace. Nixon said the agreements with MySpace and Facebook are a result of two years' work by the Attorneys General and have helped set the standards for online safety.

"Both Facebook and MySpace have already implemented several recommendations from Attorneys General and other online safety advocates," Nixon said. "Today's agreement sets out the additional steps Facebook will take as part of this broad-based task force that is exploring and developing age and identity verification technology. It is important to remember, however, that the most effective tools in protecting children from dangers online are parents who are actively involved in monitoring and talking to their children about their online activities."

The Attorneys General advocate age and identity verification, calling it vital to better protect children using social networking sites from online sexual predators and inappropriate material. The states pushed for changes after sexual predators repeatedly used social networking sites to victimize children.

Under the agreement, Facebook will be part of an industry-wide Internet Safety Technical Task Force that is exploring and developing age and identity verification tools for social networking Web sites. The task force, created through the earlier agreement with MySpace, includes social networking sites, age and identification verification experts, child protection groups and technology companies. Last month, the task force released the first of its quarterly reports to the Attorneys General; the group will issue a formal report with findings and recommendations at the end of 2008.

Nixon said the agreement with Facebook, like the agreement with MySpace, incorporates four over-arching principles: preventing underage users; protecting younger users from inappropriate content; protecting younger users from inappropriate contact; and providing safety tools for members.

Preventing Underage Users: Facebook will enforce "age locking" for existing and new profiles. If members are under 18, or if they want to change their age to indicate they are under 18, the profile must be reviewed by a customer service representative. The site also will grant only a single request to change a member's age above or below the 18-year-old threshold.

Protecting Younger Users from Inappropriate Content: Among other actions, Facebook will use technology to block and remove inappropriate images; delete accounts for upload child pornography and refer them to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children; and maintain a list of pornographic sites on an ongoing basis and sever active links to those sites.

Protecting Younger Users from Inappropriate Contact: Facebook will identify and remove profiles of registered sex offenders; allow users under 18 to block over-18 users from contacting or viewing them; limit users over 18 from searching users under 18; remove posting of contact information; and prohibit unregistered users from viewing search results in mature groups and forums.

Providing Safety Tools for all Members: Both the MySpace and Facebook agreements include providing privacy controls for users; allow users to conceal their "online now" status; promote safety tips on the site, and require under-18 users to affirmatively consent to reviewing the safety tips.

Facebook and the Attorneys General also issued a joint statement on key principles of social networking safety. The statement recognizes that an ongoing effort by the online social networking industry is required both to keep pace with the latest technological developments and to develop additional ways to protect teens, including online identity authentication tools. Those principles fall into four categories:

• Site Design and Functionality
• Education and Tools for Parents, Educators and Children
• Law Enforcement Cooperation
• Online Safety Task Force

Nixon has been a leader in holding social networking sites accountable for protecting children and young people from online predators. The Attorney General's work with MySpace has already resulted in his office turning over to the Missouri State Highway Patrol the names of 867 individuals whose MySpace profiles matched those of registered Missouri sex offenders. The Attorney General has asked the Patrol to examine the data to look for parole violations by offenders who may be barred from using a computer or contacting minors.

Joint Statement of Facebook and Attorneys General

Appendix to Joint Statement

Inquiries from consumers should be directed to consumer@ago.mo.gov or 1-800-392-8222 (from within Missouri) or 573-751-3321 (outside Missouri).

All media inquiries should be directed to Press Secretary John Fougere.

E-mail      Phone: 573-751-8844         Fax: 573-751-5818