Critics are not happy, charging that Facebook is sacrificing children's safety in the pursuit of profit. Surprisingly, Facebook doesn't even bother to deny that. In a news release, the company said it's making the changes to stay competitive.
"Teens are among the savviest people using social media, and whether it comes to civic engagement, activism, or their thoughts on a new movie, they want to be heard," Facebook's announcement states. "While only a small fraction of teens using Facebook might choose to post publicly, this update now gives them the choice to share more broadly, just like on other social media services."
Teens may be "savvy" but they are also prone to act impulsively and have even been known to take actions that endanger themselves and their friends but that apparently has slipped through whatever decency filters may still be in place at Facebook.
Posts become public
Just to clarify, the latest change means that Facebook users 13 to 17 can now set the audience for their posts to "Public," which opens them up to the world. Prevously, they were restricted to sharing their posts with "Friends of Friends" or even just "Friends."
We all know, of course, that "Friends" aren't always friends, or even very friendly, but no matter.
Parents who pay attention are likely to be incensed at the notion that their kids are suddenly open prey to stalkers and predators of all descriptions.
Beyond that, there are also concerns about what might be called the "under-the-hood" data that teens share about themselves, data that winds up being used for advertising and marketing purposes. Privacy groups have been demanding that Federal Trade Commission take a careful look at the data Facebook collects from its younger users.
Less than a month ago, a coalition of more than 20 public health, media, youth, and consumer advocacy groups wrote to the FTC, raising concerns about the potential negative impact of Facebook's earlier changes to its privacy policy. saying the changes would expose teens to the same problematic data collection and sophisticated ad-targeted practices that adults currently face.
“The FTC, which has acknowledged that teens require special privacy safeguards, must act now to limit the ways in which Facebook collects data and engages in targeted marketing directed at adolescents,” the organizations said in a letter to FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez.
