INTERNET - Facebook probed on safety claims - All 50 states are looking into whether social sites protect young users from sexual predators.
san francisco -- A year after goading MySpace into overhauling its safety practices, state law enforcement officials on Monday stepped up their criticism of how social network Facebook Inc. protects its young users from sexual predators.
New York Atty. Gen. Andrew Cuomo said his office was investigating whether Facebook made false claims about the safety of its social network.
He issued subpoenas to gather more information about the Palo Alto company's policies and procedures after an undercover investigation found that Facebook was slow to respond to complaints about sexual solicitations of underage users.
"It does not have the right to represent that its site is safe and that it promptly responds to complaints when such statements are not accurate," Cuomo said.
Safety concerns could dog Facebook, which has soared to become the No. 2 social networking site, much as they have its bigger rival, MySpace. Facebook has become one of Silicon Valley's hottest companies, poaching employees from such powerhouses as Google Inc. and attracting advertisers eager to get their messages in front of the site's 42 million registered users.
Facebook spokeswoman Brandee Barker released a statement saying the privately held company took the concerns "very seriously" and pledged to work with Cuomo and other state attorneys general.
One prominent Internet safety advocate came to Facebook's defense. Parry Aftab, a New York lawyer who is executive director of Wired Safety.org, said Facebook had been a model corporate citizen since she began working with the site in 2005.
Facebook Chief Privacy Officer Chris Kelly, a legal veteran in the privacy arena, is "outrageously responsive" to complaints from watchdog groups and ahead of the curve in setting up procedures and training monitors, Aftab said.
Connecticut Atty. Gen. Richard Blumenthal and North Carolina Atty. Gen. Roy Cooper said Monday that they were heading a joint investigation by all 50 states into sexual predators on social networking websites. Both men met with Facebook last week.
"Facebook has a long way to go before we are satisfied," Blumenthal said.
Attorneys general from a growing number of states are pushing for state and federal laws to require social networking sites to verify ages and identities or to get parental consent before allowing underage users to join.
