CEOP claims success for Facebook 'panic button' The Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre has received 211 reports of "suspicious activity" on Facebook since the launch of a branded app last month, it announced today. By comparison, earlier this year CEOP said it received 257 complaints about activity on the dominant social network in three months. The " …
Well what is the function of the button, what is the best way to measure it? I will save you the trouble, nobody is going to prison because of it - absolutely nobody. CEOP and the UKHTC have 'publicity' missions - they are little or no use to foreign police agencies, and to be honest are viewed as spin merchantrs, or post office boxes. CEOP is light years away from being the FBI.
but i can't help wondering if the devil in these details would show some numerical massage had been applied... that story just tells us the number of reported hits and dl/install?
i wonder how many of those were proper 'issues' and how many were just clicked for the hell of it..
26 million users and 55k subscribed comes out at 0.21% - not a figure to be especially proud of. Added to which, just because they subscribed doesn't mean they will ever do anything about it. However...
Of those 55k 257 have made a complaint. Wow! A whole 0.47%. Now they don't say that those complain are:-
A: Valid
B: Relevant
Personally I'd be surprised if even 10 fit the criteria. I'd expect most to be along the lines, "Jody called me a bitch". However, lets be really generous and say 1/4 of then fit the bill. That gives us a hit rate of 25% of 0.47% of 0.21%
Hmmm. 0.00025%. Impressed?
Well they'd never call it a total failure would they.
How many of those 'reports' were people puching the button to see what happened, they happen to mention that?
What did they say the conviction rate was?
'Push this button for instant protection from something that can't actually harm you unless you're pig-thick enough to get on a bus and go visit them'.
I much preferred 'Do not press this button' followed by 'Do not push this button again' - Hitch Hiker's Guide style.
They should give themselves an award and send out press releases saying how they won their own platinum standard award for being so platinum-standard-worthy.
Two points:
Firstly: A girl here in australia raised an alarm several times about a suspect user, then got out on her own and met him anyway. They found her dead.
It's sad even if you factor in the lack of common sense.
Secondly: "Children under 13 aren't allowed to register."
No really, are they fecking high on crack?
What's the point of mentioning that if they know full well that's a fair chunk of their membership?
But that's all right, since their users clicked the "I'm over 13" button, facebook is relieved of any liability.
Problem solved.
When was panic a good idea?
Surely a controlled, restrained, logical alert button would be better?
And if they want to prevent anybody 14 joining, they could be asked to choose which of the following phrases most accurately describes them:
a) Like oh my god I is, like, at least 14 innit
or
b) I can confirm I am at least 14 years of age.
In my experience of travelling on public transport in London, very few children under 14 are likely to answer b)
This is rubbish. Most kids want in on FB & why the hell shouldn't they. It's up to us as parents to assess & we need to keep a good eye on what is going on. Don't be overly shocked if their language is a little surprising in its informal nature. They are kids after all & do you not remember what you did when you were 14 & where you are today because of your experiences. Allow them to have some but of course be aware of peer pressure & the nastiness that that can encounter.
As far as Paedophiles online are concerned, those that haven't been caught have numbered days. The digital age is one of reverse IP look-ups that result in old stuff being found out & where it comes from will come out too. Just make sure that you are auditing the stuff that is online. It is your job until they're 18.
I know of several under 13s who are members of Facebook. I wonder if anyone has actually done the research to find out the numbers and whether this Facebook excuse actually has any validity?
There are much more constructive and much more effective ways to safeguard children than arbitrary and easily circumvented age limits. But then what else is to be expected? I have no confidence that Facebook cares about the welfare of anyone apart from Facebook. Their censorship policies show that that they are much more concerned about popular prejudice and money than the welfare of young people. It is all part of the same immoral picture.
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