Web site promises to shield children

Facebook, a social networking Web site, has agreed to provide children protection from online predators, Attorney General Drew Edmondson said Thursday.

Facebook made this agreement after discussions with attorneys general from most of the states and from the District of Columbia, Edmondson said.

Edmondson said he and his colleagues have been working to protect children from online predators, who he said use the anonymity of cyberspace to prey on unsuspecting victims.

As part of the agreement, Facebook will provide automatic warning messages when a child is in danger of providing personal information to an unknown adult, will aggressively remove inappropriate content and groups from the site and will require third-party vendors to adhere to the safety and privacy guidelines of Facebook.

He said Facebook also will prominently display safety tips and require users under 18 to affirm that they have read those safety tips when they join the site.

"This agreement is similar to the agreement we reached earlier this year with MySpace,” Edmonson said. "Facebook will be joining the AG/MySpace task force, which is charged with developing age and identity tools for social networking sites.”

Edmondson encouraged parents to talk with their children about online safety and monitor their Internet usage.

"Our world is changing rapidly,” Edmondson said. "New technologies have and will continue to change the way we communicate. Law enforcement and parents must keep up with how our children are using these new advances and keep them safe from harms we could not have dreamed about even 10 years ago.”