No word yet on how everyone’s favorite social networking website will be changing, but it is certain that in the next few weeks, users should expect to some significant change in the way users can report the presence of unsavory characters on the social network.
Simply put, many are expecting to see a panic button.
Well, we do know that Facebook requires that users of the social networking website be of a certain minimum age. However, this has not stopped thousands of young children from signing onto the site with their parent’s or guardian’s permission. And too often are these very same children victimized by stalkers, pedophiles and other forms of cyber bullying. Many human and children’s rights activists and groups have been critical of Facebook lack of action to prevent the presence of these individuals on the social networking site.
At the same time people feel that Facebook’s lack of action is also equivalent to a lack of concern –a grave matter considering that Facebook is currently the most popular and most used social networking site.
Some people however, feel that a panic button would not be the answer to their problems. While the feature will certainly be used, it will be done by adults who have the frame of mind to also make use of the already existing abuse report features of the site. Children on the other hand would not be aware of the situation and would not know when the button is to be made use of.
With many existing cases of abuse already related to Facebook, include the recent murder of Ashleigh Hall; it seems that there has been an even bigger public outcry for Facebook to take action.
Read more about the Facebook going into talks about new child safety features at the Telegraph UK.
Tags: child-protection, Facebook, online-safety, Social-networking