Facebook to Protect Children Online, Joins EU Coalition

Facebook joined the European Union to protect children online, highlighting an effort to address growing concerns over children's safety.

The European Commission spearheaded the coalition, which secured endorsements from 28 companies, including Apple, Google, Microsoft, and RIM, to develop an age-based online ratings system and strengthen privacy settings. Other measures the group will address include improving parental controls, enhancing cooperation among law enforcement, and making it easier to report inappropriate content.

"This new coalition should provide both children and parents with transparent and consistent protection tools to make the most of the online world," said Neelie Kroes, the EU commissioner who deals with digital technology policy, to Reuters.

Social media use by children is growing, sparking concern over their safety as they interact in a digital world they may not be equipped to fully understand. Children increasingly use social networking sites, which not only allow them to connect, but to easily share information such as home addresses, their real names, school locations and even phone numbers, which may prove dangerous if it falls into the wrong hands.

As a result, governments are looking at further controls to better safeguard children.

Currently, Facebook's policy prohibits those under the age of 13 from establishing an account, and requires users to provide a birthday to verify age, but children easily get past this rule by lying about their age.

Relying on parents to monitor their children's use isn't proving successful, according to last month's survey conducted by education leaders and Microsoft Research. Of more than 1,000 parents polled, more than three-fourths either knew their underage children joined the social networked or helped them create the account.

Moreover, the Palo Alto, Calif.-based company's CEO Mark Zuckerberg said this spring that although the company will continue to comply with federal regulation, technology will enable young people to learn from sharing with their fellow students in the future, and Facebook should play a role in that process.

The formation of the coalition follows the European Commission's June report, which found 14 leading social networking sites, such as Facebook, inadequately protected children's profiles and data providing additional motivation for Facebook to support the EU initiative.

The news of Facebook's endorsement of the EU project comes the same week the company settled with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission over alleged privacy violations. The site must now get users' permission before changing privacy policies or settings and also undergo periodic, independent reviews of its practices for the next 20 years.

The FTC settlement helps Facebook clear a U.S. regulatory hurdle and restores its public trust before a highly-anticipated $10 billion initial public offering.

Transparency and accountability for user security are high on Facebook's list of priorities as it pushes ahead with its planned IPO, expected between April and June next year. Providing a secure place for all users, and exploring ways to strengthen children's online safety will likely remain top priorities as it navigates the sensitive public offering process early next year.

Facebook to Protect Children Online, Joins EU Coalition originally appeared at Mobiledia on Fri Dec 02, 2011 12:40 pm.

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