Earlier this month a spate of articles (see links below) reported that Facebook is testing features to help it decide whether to expand its social networking access to children under the age of 13.
Now a group of child advocacy organizations sent a June 18, 2012, letter to Facebook’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, strongly urging the company to avoid advertising for kids as well as to offer a guarantee of no tracking of children’s online activity. Read the entire letter at the bottom of this Consumer’s Union page.
The following organizations signed the letter:
Consumers Union, Center for Digital Democracy, Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Center for Media Justice, Center for Science in the Public Interest, ChangeLab Solutions/Public Health Law & Policy, Children Now, Consumer Action, Consumer Federation of America, Consumer Watchdog, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, Privacy Times, Public Citizen, and World Privacy Forum.
Articles to Read
- Consumer, Privacy, Health, Child Groups: Facebook Space for Preteens Must Protect Privacy, Be Ad-free and Marketing-free – Consumer’s Union
- Groups Urge Facebook Not to Aim Ads at Children Under 13 – The New York Times
- Advocacy Groups Urge Facebook Not to Advertise to Kids – The Hill
- Facebook Junior: The Social Network Explores Access for Younger Kids – LA Times
- Facebook Explores Giving Kids Access – Wall Street Journal
Media! Tech! Parenting! 
shouldn’t be taken lightly