The problem isn't with Facebook, it's with the pedophiles using it. Laws need to address/restrict the source problems, and not to restrict/address victims of problems. Laws are supposed to protect people, and not to punish good citizens.
Facebook here is a victim as they have been misused by a seriously deranged fellow. Punishing Facebook doesn't solve the problem.
Roads can be dangerous places, and if you're careless, you're liable to injure yourself or others, but you don't find them all lined with rubber padding and whatnot. Similarly, the Internet presents dangers as well. There are lots of ways to put on an "Internet seat belt" or install "Internet airbags", but most people just simply won't do it (e.g. Internet nanny programs, firewalls, etc.). People need to actually
do something to protect their children rather than just sit back and let the state try to do it (which can ONLY end in disaster).
We see absolutely no reason why sites should not do so.
WTF??? Reality check! I can think of a million reasons not to! Do you seriously want to have kids flagging people as pedophiles? You know what that would do? It would turn into a witch-hunt complete with stakes, bonfires, and burning flesh. (
Note that CEPO, a government organization in the country with the most CCTV cameras per capita of anywhere in the world, wants reports to go directly to them!)
Having children falsely report people would ruin a lot of lives. The amount of information available to governments now is already far too much. Every time something like this gets into the system erroneously (kids reporting falsely), somebody is going to get pulled aside at customs when the go through a border, have troubles with police for a parking ticket, lose a job opportunity because a red flag came up, or something else. The information will not be used responsibly. We have many years of governments abusing power as evidence and very little in the way of evidence to show that a system like that wouldn't be grossly abused.
A fellow I know had his medical records fraudulently stolen (which obviously required complicity on the part of the medical community) and used against him politically. He had no realistic recourse against those that held (and released) his medical records. Jeez... The system is already working soooooo well... Sigh...
It would be a very good idea to simply delete your account at any site that did adopt something that insane.
I would much rather see a "Facebook Jr." site that was restricted with no adults allowed. With an appropriate license agreement, any adult signing up fraudulently could be prosecuted.
The potential for abuse with a system like that is just far too high.
