In the wake of MySpace verdict, could social networks do more to protect consumers?

A federal jury in Los Angeles today delivered a mixed verdict in the MySpace cyber-bullying trial, convicting a Missouri woman of three misdemeanor charges of computer fraud for creating a phony account on the social networking site that prosecutors said drove a teenage girl to suicide. Lori Drew, 49, faces up to three years in prison and $300,000 in fines but was acquitted of the most serious charges against her.

But the jury is still out on whether social networks are doing enough to protect consumers on their sites, say technology and safety experts.

Social networks are a vulnerable place for children, with cyber-bullying becoming increasingly prevalent, technology consultant Rob Enderle said. One-third of U.S. teenagers have been victims of it, according to a Pew Internet Project study released last year. About 39% of social network users reported being bullied in some way, compared with 22% of teens who did not use social networks.

Social networks have security and safety personnel who scour their sites for inappropriate content. "But the reality is that children are at risk on these sites," Enderle said. "Sites do what they can to mitigate those risks. But without becoming incredibly invasive, it would be very difficult for the sites to monitor this kind of behavior and prevent it."

In fact, Enderle said, social networks kept a close eye on the Drew case, hoping for ...

... a stronger verdict that would serve as a deterrent. "Social networking sites are very concerned about this," Enderle said. "There is the potential liability, and it also reflects very badly on the site to be seen as a place for predators to prowl for children."

In a statement issued shortly after the verdict, Beverly Hills-based MySpace, which is owned by media giant News Corp., said: "MySpace does not tolerate cyber-bullying and has cooperated fully with the U.S. attorney in this matter. MySpace respects the jury's decision and will continue to work with industry experts to raise awareness of cyber-bullying and the harm it can potentially cause."

The No. 2 social networking site, Facebook, declined to comment on the verdict.

Online safety expert Linda Criddle says social networks need to take responsibility for activity on their sites and make them safer for consumers, rather than directing blame elsewhere. "I think the industry was hoping there would be a strong verdict blaming one user for abusing another because that way it's not their fault," she said.

Criddle said few social networking sites enforce their own terms of service, giving parents a false sense of security when they allow their children to use the sites.

"It's just the same as if you are at Disneyland and you scream profanities. That is not freedom of speech. You are on Disneyland's property. You have to follow their terms and conditions. If you don't, they escort you out of there," Criddle said. "But these companies claim to have good standards and then do nothing to enforce them. They let people breach their terms and conditions and do nothing about it."

Parry Aftab, a New York lawyer who is executive director of WiredSafety.org, said social networks police their sites for sexual predators, but for other rules violations they mostly rely on consumers to report abuses. She said she was starting a consulting firm to help social networks develop programs to "build terms of service with teeth and figure out how to enforce them."

-- Jessica Guynn

Photo: Megan Meier, 13, who committed suicide in October 2006 after receiving cruel messages on MySpace. Credit: Associated Press / Family handout

Comments

[Shelley]

You have to ask, too, about the parent's responsibility. No parent should assume a social networking site is "safe" for their children. That's no different than assuming they can send their young kids off to the mall, and not worry about their safety.

As it was, both parents in this case allowed underage kids to sign up on MySpace--the parents, themselves, aren't following the "rules". In addition, when the Meiers allowed Megan to have a MySpace account, it was set up to be private, which should have made Megan's profile inaccessible from the outside, yet when this unknown boy asks to 'friend" Megan, her own mother allowed it. The very fact that he appeared out of nowhere should have been an alarm.

Sorry, but you can wrap the internet in cotton wool in order to make it completely safe for children without any form of adult supervision and intervention. All you'll do is make the internet unusable for everyone.

[LAlawblogger]

This is the reason why children who use the internet should have adult supervision. I think children as well as parents should be educated on this aspect, considering how pervasive identity theft and fraud are in the internet.

[BloggerPal]

This incident should not only be blamed on social networks. I think greater responsibility devolves on the parents to guide their children and be informed of their activities as well. This incident should serve as a wake up call to all of us. Sadly, someone had to die for us to realize our shortcomings.

[Dan Ivancic]

The best way to protect our kids online is by educating parents and getting them actively involved in monitoring their kids Internet use.

There are so many kids who are unsupervised on the Internet and that's what makes them such easy prey.

[Fernando Ardenghi]

I think:
* Legislation to avoid anonymity and fake profiles (anonymity is different from privacy)
* Identity Verification
* Background Checks
* ISO 9001:2000 certification
could lead to reach the ALARA (as low as reasonably achievable) concept for Online Dating and Social Networking Sites.

i.e. the probability of being scammed, raped, murdered, stalked, etc. using a specific Online Dating or Social Networking Site needs to be as low as comparing to the probability of being scammed, raped, murdered, stalked, etc. using real/traditional places like parks, schools, bars, libraries, discos, etc. for dating / networking purposes.

Regards,

Fernando Ardenghi.
Buenos Aires.
Argentina.
ardenghifer@gmail.com

[Elizabeth Bennett]

I definately think social sites need to beef up security. People make fake profiles of each other, of celebrities and others and those who fall victim to this are torn to shreads psychologically. I have seen this with my own two eyes and myself along with a friend use to try to get bogus celebrity profiles deleted on MySpace until they decided to enable this problem on their site. Now this case came about and I hope lessons have been learned from all of this. Then again, I highly doubt it because there really is no law to protect people from this form of abuse. This is one of the dirtiest little secrets that exists today. We need to step up and put a stop to it. Nobody likes being impersonated as its identity theft. Celebrities more than anyone.

Regards,
Elizabeth Bennett
Los Angeles
Peer Abuse Know More!

[Los Angeles Lawyer]

I don't think there is any way to enforce any restrictions on the social networking sites. Allowing government to get involved would be more harmful than the isolated incidents that have been taking place. As it is, employers and even government agencies are using social networks like facebook and myspace to do their investigations on people - which is quite frankly more disturbing.

In the end, it will come down to good parenting skills. Parents can't expect the government to completely watch over their kids and care for them, they are going to have to get more involved with their children's lives.