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Archives > Volume 9 Issue 19 - May 11, 2011 7.5 million Facebook users under age 13...In violation of Facebook's requirement that members be at least 13 years old to open an account, about 7.5 million users in the U.S. are under the age of 13, and about 5 million are under the age of 10, Consumer Reports said in a report released today. ABC News story here That's out of 20 million U.S. minors in total who actively used Facebook last year, Consumer Reports said. 
The annual survey, which looks at the "State of the Net," asked more than 2,000 U.S. households with an Internet connection about their experiences with online security threats, social networks and identity theft.
Jeff Fox, technology editor for Consumer Reports, said the 7.5 million figure was extrapolated from the number of parents surveyed who knew that their underage children were Facebook members. But even that number could be low, he said, because they can't estimate the number of kids who join the site without their parents' knowledge. "It's becoming extremely popular," he said. "We suppose that's not the entire iceberg." Reacting to the report, Facebook said it is not easy for an online company to enforce an age limit. "Recent reports have highlighted just how difficult it is to implement age restrictions on the Internet and that there is no single solution to ensuring younger children don't circumvent a system or lie about their age," the social network said in a written statement. "We appreciate the attention that these reports and other experts are giving this matter and believe this will provide an opportunity for parents, teachers, safety advocates and Internet services to focus on this area, with the ultimate goal of keeping young people of all ages safe online." Facebook's privacy policy does caution kids under 13 years old against registering for an account. "If we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under age 13, we will delete that information as quickly as possible," the company says. "If you believe that we might have any information from a child under age 13, please contact us through this help page." To verify that each user is old enough open an account, Facebook asks members to enter their birth dates when they sign up. But Fox called the safeguard "a pretty flimsy screening." "We all know how bright those folks are that run it," he said. "I cannot believe that they cannot devise better systems for preventing kids under 13 than just asking for a birth date." While parents of young kids may think that joining the social network may be innocent enough, Fox cautioned that it's not even a totally safe environment for adults and teenagers. "There's a lot of dangers -- there's adults, there's bullies, there's malware," said Fox. "A 10-year-old is ill-equipped to deal with any of those things." Over the past year, Consumer Reports said more than five million online households in the U.S. have been subjected to some kind of Internet abuse, such as virus infections and identity theft, via Facebook. About one million children who went on Facebook were exposed to bullying, the survey found. The survey also revealed that parents of kids 10 and under are friending their kids much less frequently than parents of older kids, which means they don't have the opportunity to monitor -- and defend -- their children on the social network, Fox said. For more on the dangers of kids and Facebook, visit eGuide/Facebook. Casey Anthony judges boots 50 potential jurors after potential witness contaminates jury pool... Casey Anthony, her defense team, prosecutors and Orange-Osceola Chief Judge Belvin Perry will all be back in a Pinellas County courtroom today for the third day of jury selection in her first-degree murder case. Orlando Sentinel story here 
Perry wants to have a 20-member jury seated by Friday, so the panel can be brought to Orlando and hear opening statements on Tuesday. That may not be as simple at the judge hoped for - he dismissed about 50 jurors Tuesday after he was told they spoke in depth about Anthony. That chatter started with a potential juror who may ironically be a witness in the case because of her involvement with Texas EquuSearch, a group that organized searches for Anthony's 2-year-old daughter Caylee Marie Anthony, in the summer of 2008. On Tuesday, Perry asked that a new batch of about 50 jurors be summoned today. Meanwhile, NBC-affiliate station WESH reported that Judge Belvin Perry agreed to allow evidence from so-called sniff tests (air tests designed to find signs of decomposition) that were carried out on 25-year-old Casey Anthony's car. MSNBC story here Anthony is accused of killing her daughter, Caylee, in 2008 and could face the death penalty. Anthony also is charged with aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter of a child and providing false information to law enforcement. She has pleaded not guilty and says a baby sitter kidnapped Caylee. For a complete list of our 2008 coverage of Caylee Anthony visit vol6_iss78. In other news... 
A priest-psychologist said he sees "signs of grace" amid the darkness of the clergy sexual abuse crisis. Catholic News service story here Msgr. Stephen Rossetti, clinical associate professor of pastoral studies at The Catholic University of America, said one positive outcome of the abuse crisis has been the continued implementation of the U.S. bishops' 2002 document the "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People." He called it "a miracle of grace the charter is still strong and so insightful." Msgr. Rossetti made his remarks May 2 in a keynote address at the National Safe Environment & Victim Assistance Coordinator's Leadership Conference in Burlington. The priest, former president and CEO of St. Luke Institute, a treatment center in Maryland for priests and religious with addictions or psychological problems, was a consultant to the U.S. Bishops' Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse that drafted the charter adopted by the bishops at their Dallas meeting in 2002 and revised three years later. If you or someone you love is a victim of clergy abuse, visit eGuide/ClergyAbuse.
A 9-year-old girl who disappeared while playing outside her suburban Philadelphia apartment complex was raped, choked and murdered by a neighbor who claimed he had a "whiteout" and just "snapped," authorities said. MSNBC story here Police found the body of Skyler Kauffman in a trash bin behind her apartment in Souderton about five hours after her mother reported her missing Monday evening. A 24-year-old neighbor, James Lee Troutman, was charged Tuesday with murder, kidnapping, rape and other offenses. Neighbors jeered as Troutman was led in and out of his arraignment at a courtroom across the street from where he allegedly killed the girl. Troutman became a suspect after a detective canvassing the scene spotted what appeared to be blood on his sneakers, Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman said. The detective then searched his apartment and found bloody clothes in a closet, Ferman said. Detectives also found a pool of blood in the basement of the complex. They later found Skyler's body wrapped in a comforter in a parking lot trash bin, Ferman said.
New York City kids don't have to hide dirty magazines under their mattresses anymore -- they can just go to the library. New York Post story here Children 13 and older can easily access hard-core porn in the city's public libraries by simply claiming to be of age on the software and clicking off the filters that block XXX-rated content. And library patrons say it happens all the time. You'll see three or four kids, 13 or 14 years old, and they're all gathered around a computer giggling," said a regular at Brooklyn's central library at Grand Army Plaza. Even kids who don't want to surf for smut can be exposed to it because they can wind up sitting next to porn gazers. "A lot of the times, I see people watching pornography and stuff like that. The man right next to me today was watching naked women," Julio Sosa, 14, told The Post at the Jerome Branch in The Bronx. Library officials defend their policy of allowing easy access to porn as a free-speech issue and say just .5 percent of Web traffic on public-library computers is to porn sites.
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