Hi everyone
I was browsing someone's profile on Bebo yesterday - an adult - and looking through their friends list. I was horrified to see a listing there for someone's profile, the note next to which claimed they were 15 and wanting to go onto webcams with people. The thumbnail next to the note about the person's profile seemed to be a picture of a naked torso. I quickly copied the url of the friends page and sent it to the Internet Watch Foundation here in the UK - I haven't gone back to see if the profile has been removed and I haven't yet heard from the IWF who will hopefully go in and take a look as to what's going on.
I've felt physically sick about it ever since. I thought Bebo was a 'safe' site, alongside myspace and facebook, but reading here I wonder if that's the case. Does this kind of thing happen often on these websites? I don't have any children myself yet, but I do have young nieces and nephews who I think use some of these sites.
Natalie
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Maureen
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667
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(9 of 9)
Re: Bebo - illegal material
Jul 30, 2009 10:22 AM
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Hi Natalie, Very common, I’m afraid. All the big sites do screen images (mostly through a combo of software and human screening), but some bad images still manage to get through. I’m not sure how it works in the UK, but American law and courts so far treat social-networking sites as “Internet service providers” – content deliverers, not creators (similar to phone companies), so they’re not legally responsible for stuff users upload. The sites also have a responsibility to protect people’s right to free speech (which includes the writing of tacky/irresponsible descriptions), which “complicates” things even further. Kind of long, but I hope this answers your question!
Best,
Maureen
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Maureen Kochan
ConnectSafely community manager
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Natalie
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5
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7/27/09
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(8 of 9)
Re: Bebo - illegal material
Jul 30, 2009 8:31 AM
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Hi Maureen
I heard back from the IWF today - they said they couldn't find an image, so presumably Bebo have removed it. I still can't fathom why they wouldn't remove the whole profile though - the profile description was completely inappropriate.
Can I ask you - how common is this scenario in your opinion? I'm wondering why the social networks haven't a duty to vet everything that gets uploaded, even if that takes longer to do. I'm sure there are software programmes that can do this kind of thing.
Thanks
Natalie
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Maureen
Posts:
667
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6/13/07
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(7 of 9)
Re: Bebo - illegal material
Jul 29, 2009 3:57 PM
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Hi Natalie, Thanks for the update. Could be that Bebo removed the picture, but not the profile...
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Maureen
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Maureen Kochan
ConnectSafely community manager
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Natalie
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5
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7/27/09
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(6 of 9)
Re: Bebo - illegal material
Jul 29, 2009 4:46 AM
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Hi Maureen
I got an email back from Bebo support this morning. They were pretty vague, saying thanks for the information and that they were sorry a member had violated their terms of service. They didn't tell me what action they had taken though, and by looking at the url of the friends list through seo-browser (a text-only website viewer, so as not to have to access it through my computer or display any images) the profile is still clearly listed. Maybe they're just very slow in taking this stuff down, I don't know. I'm still waiting on another response from the IWF too.
Anyway, thanks for all your advice and help
Natalie
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Maureen
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667
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6/13/07
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(5 of 9)
Re: Bebo - illegal material
Jul 28, 2009 6:27 AM
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Hi Natalie, I'm glad you sent the info about the friends list. That email goes directly to Bebo's abuse reporting center. I can't speak for them, but I'm sure they'll investigate the report - especially since it involves the nudity of a potential minor.
Thanks,
Maureen
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Maureen Kochan
ConnectSafely community manager
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Natalie
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5
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7/27/09
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(4 of 9)
Re: Bebo - illegal material
Jul 27, 2009 11:04 PM
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Thanks Maureen.
I sent the information I had to the email you listed - I tried the main Bebo support yesterday but they too said they would not do anything without a specific url, and asked me to use the 'report abuse'. I found the url of the friends list again - but I'm not willing to go back there for obvious reasons, and I'm definitely not going to go on the person in questions profile.
I can't believe no-one will check what I've sent though - I have a link to a friends page which has the profile on it - anyone visiting that would be able to see the suspect profile as clear as day. But it seems they will only investigate direct urls which doesn't seem very proactive or safe to me, especially if they're relying on other users to do the reporting.
Thanks again
Natalie
PS Will update if I hear anything more back
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Maureen
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667
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(3 of 9)
Re: Bebo - illegal material
Jul 27, 2009 2:24 PM
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Hi Natalie, Most social networking sites (including Bebo) forbid users from uploading nude photos in their Terms of Service. The “policing” of photos varies from site to site – some check photos before they’re uploaded, others only respond to user complaints. (See this article for more.) All sites require a URL to locate a specific photo (as you can imagine, each site has millions upon millions of images). You can report nudity to Bebo a number of ways. The easiest is to click on the ‘Report Abuse’ link located below the content. Since you don’t have the URL, you can email beboinquiry(at)aol.com and give them as much info as you have. Just remember there’s no guarantee they’ll be able to locate the content without a specific URL. Good luck, Maureen ~ Maureen Kochan ConnectSafely community manager |
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Natalie
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5
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7/27/09
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Re: Bebo - illegal material
Jul 27, 2009 8:06 AM
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Hi everyone again
Quick update - I heard back from the IWF who said without a link to a specific image they can't do anything about it - I don't know why this is and it's kind of frustrating as I don't have the url of the friends list I referred them, and I'm not about to go back hunting it out again.
I think I can remember the name of the person in the profile however, and the fact that they were from the UK - is it worth forwarding this to Bebo and do you think would look into it without an actual url?
Thanks for the advice
Natalie
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Natalie
Posts:
5
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7/27/09
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(1 of 9)
Jul 27, 2009 7:03 AM
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Hi everyone
I was browsing someone's profile on Bebo yesterday - an adult - and looking through their friends list. I was horrified to see a listing there for someone's profile, the note next to which claimed they were 15 and wanting to go onto webcams with people. The thumbnail next to the note about the person's profile seemed to be a picture of a naked torso. I quickly copied the url of the friends page and sent it to the Internet Watch Foundation here in the UK - I haven't gone back to see if the profile has been removed and I haven't yet heard from the IWF who will hopefully go in and take a look as to what's going on.
I've felt physically sick about it ever since. I thought Bebo was a 'safe' site, alongside myspace and facebook, but reading here I wonder if that's the case. Does this kind of thing happen often on these websites? I don't have any children myself yet, but I do have young nieces and nephews who I think use some of these sites.
Natalie
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