ITV did own Freinds Reunited but they sold it last year, at a great loss, even though it is still partly reason the made a profit last year, from that one off sale.
However the DM do have a point on this one, although why just concentrate on Facebook, as there are many other similar sites young people (17 is not a “child”) use, and to worry that they don’t have any ‘real’ friends.
Facebook is probably the only social networking site that Mail readers have heard of. A few might even use it. Otherwise it would just be “Ban this sick website now”.
Stevie H – do you really think a parent should be constantly supervising a 17 year old’s internet access?
pstu – Yes, I do. Assuming the parent pays the bills for the PC, the electricity and the broadband, I believe it is quite within their rights to supervise usage – because if there’s any suspected misuse (e.g. peer-to-peer sharing of copyright material) it will be the broadband account holder who is targetted.
If the child is paying for the internet themselves (e.g. on a phone) then it’s slightly different, but I’d still expect the parents to intervene more than in this tragic case.
None at all, Tom, but that won’t stop the DM. There’s a section in the (online) article explaining all about social networking sites, how easy it is to setup a false account, and how many murders etc the sites have been linked too.
I’ll bet a lot of Thomases and Jemimas are having their Facebook accounts closed down right now by s***-scared DM readers…
This kind of hysteria, blaming the contact medium for the actions of a violent misogynist, chooses to ignore the uncomfortable fact that predatory offenders have been able to lure children and naive youngsters for centuries. Why does the DM think the myth of the Pied Piper of Hamelin is still so resonant? Did Ian Brady and Myra Hindley need Facebook/teh Internets to abduct and kill children?
The fact is, there have always been predatory adults and naive children. Presumably the parents of he victim in this case either didn’t know about her plans, or knew of them and were happy for her to be picked up by the “father” of a teenager they had never met or spoken to. I do not know what they did, and have no intention of speculating. The fact remains that the overwhelming majority of Facebbok users are who they say are, and are not online planning to rape and strangle your children
“… in yesterday’s newspaper the Mail carried an apology on page 4 which admitted that, when Williams-Thomas conducted his experiment he had not been using Facebook at all, but an entirely different and so far unspecified social networking site. “In an article by a criminologist yesterday we wrongly stated that he had conducted an experiment into social networking sites by posing as a 14-year-old girl on Facebook with the result that he quickly attracted sexually motivated messages,” said the apology. “In fact he had used a different social networking site for this exercise. We are happy to set the record straight.”
At last a Mail headline I can feel some sympathy with.
The Big Bad Internet and Facebook strikes again
There was a fellow on Radio 5 talking a lot of sense about “good practice” for social networking.
The 2 strands seems to be: Ban/Avoid this evil boffin creation.
Create and follow some guidelines and all learn to use it sensibly.
I’m hopeful the mail might promote some of the latter.
Did ITV in which the DMGT has commercial interests once have a large slice of Friends Reunited?
ITV did own Freinds Reunited but they sold it last year, at a great loss, even though it is still partly reason the made a profit last year, from that one off sale.
However the DM do have a point on this one, although why just concentrate on Facebook, as there are many other similar sites young people (17 is not a “child”) use, and to worry that they don’t have any ‘real’ friends.
The bogeyman, ‘cos that’s where he lives – Facebook.
(facepalm)
I haven’t heard much in the papers about why Ashleigh (17)’s parents allowed her unsupervised internet access, or even to go out and meet Mr Chapman…
Facebook is probably the only social networking site that Mail readers have heard of. A few might even use it. Otherwise it would just be “Ban this sick website now”.
Stevie H – do you really think a parent should be constantly supervising a 17 year old’s internet access?
pstu – Yes, I do. Assuming the parent pays the bills for the PC, the electricity and the broadband, I believe it is quite within their rights to supervise usage – because if there’s any suspected misuse (e.g. peer-to-peer sharing of copyright material) it will be the broadband account holder who is targetted.
If the child is paying for the internet themselves (e.g. on a phone) then it’s slightly different, but I’d still expect the parents to intervene more than in this tragic case.
Obviously this is a horrific crime, but is there any evidence that a child is more at risk from Facebook than just from life in general?
None at all, Tom, but that won’t stop the DM. There’s a section in the (online) article explaining all about social networking sites, how easy it is to setup a false account, and how many murders etc the sites have been linked too.
I’ll bet a lot of Thomases and Jemimas are having their Facebook accounts closed down right now by s***-scared DM readers…
This kind of hysteria, blaming the contact medium for the actions of a violent misogynist, chooses to ignore the uncomfortable fact that predatory offenders have been able to lure children and naive youngsters for centuries. Why does the DM think the myth of the Pied Piper of Hamelin is still so resonant? Did Ian Brady and Myra Hindley need Facebook/teh Internets to abduct and kill children?
The fact is, there have always been predatory adults and naive children. Presumably the parents of he victim in this case either didn’t know about her plans, or knew of them and were happy for her to be picked up by the “father” of a teenager they had never met or spoken to. I do not know what they did, and have no intention of speculating. The fact remains that the overwhelming majority of Facebbok users are who they say are, and are not online planning to rape and strangle your children
From the Independent web site
“… in yesterday’s newspaper the Mail carried an apology on page 4 which admitted that, when Williams-Thomas conducted his experiment he had not been using Facebook at all, but an entirely different and so far unspecified social networking site. “In an article by a criminologist yesterday we wrongly stated that he had conducted an experiment into social networking sites by posing as a 14-year-old girl on Facebook with the result that he quickly attracted sexually motivated messages,” said the apology. “In fact he had used a different social networking site for this exercise. We are happy to set the record straight.”
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/press/facebook-considers-legal-action-against-daily-mail-over-underage-sex-claims-1919747.html