Facebook agrees to shield minors - The move ends a New York probe into access to porn and improper advances by adults.

The fast-growing social networking website promised to respond to complaints within 24 hours and to follow up within three days, said Atty. Gen. Andrew Cuomo and Facebook Chief Privacy Officer Chris Kelly during a news conference in New York.

"Facebook will be safer," Cuomo said in closing the probe, which centered on whether the Palo Alto-based company was deceptive in promoting its site as safe for young users. "We've established a new model for child protection on the Net."

After hearing from concerned parents in recent months, Cuomo's investigators posed as young teens and said they were harassed and invited to adult-oriented groups. When they then posed as parents and reported the incidents, Cuomo's office said, Facebook failed to act.

Such issues will be handled quickly from now on, the two sides said Tuesday. An independent examiner approved by Cuomo's office will monitor Facebook's handling of complaints and report on the matter for two years.

Facebook will post on its pages an e-mail address for complaints, abuse@facebook.com, and an unusual warning to parents that their children aren't guaranteed an inoffensive environment.

"It puts Facebook users on notice that it's not a walled garden," said Larry Magid, who co-directs a nonprofit, ConnectSafely.org, that gets funding from the largest networking sites.

Magid also said the speedy-response requirement was a welcome push to give consumer complaints more power. But he called the new Facebook measures "the easy stuff." The harder work, he said, would include age verification and education to help people deal with harassment and bullying, which are much more common than sex offenders meeting minors.

A task force created by several other states is continuing to press Facebook and its larger rival MySpace on other issues related to teen safety. Many states want such online gathering spots to verify the ages claimed by users and to require parental permission for those under 18 who want to post personal information.

Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut's attorney general and a leader of the multistate group, praised the New York deal. But in an interview he warned that issues such as "access by minors to adults who may be seeking sex or predators having the ability to reach minors [and] inappropriate ads that target minors . . . are every bit as much in need of action as well."