FTC Issues Second Report: Not Impressed with Virtual World Protections for Minors
Part of the difference between the two reports stems from the difference between sex and violence - sex can be obscene and is much more the focus of regulation. Violence is somehow more permissible in U.S. content. But sexually explicit material seems to pose a more obvious danger to children, particularly the youngest children. And sexual content comes from peer-to-peer interactions as much as from the creators of content, a more insidious form of abuse for the participant.
The findings, then are not surprising. The companies involved in virtual worlds are less responsive than their motion picture, video game and music counterparts. The voluntary efforts are less effective and more actively undermined by the companies in the field. This is certainly not true of every company and those who do well should be recognized. Parents should know more about their children's online activities and respond to those companies that intentionally cheat.
Ten-year-olds are told by their peers how to get past the controls on Facebook. (I know - it is amazing what the children in the back of the car will say, when the driver just listens without participating.) But the same behavioral advertising tools that allow vendors to know exactly when to send the birthday card seem never to be used to say "are you really three years older than you were when you signed up for the birthday club?"
The tools are available. A parent-centered behaviorial advertising model should be available to protect our children - even from themselves.
Does this sound like a First Amendment advocate has lost his focus now that his children are of that age? Not really. I'm not calling for virtual world police. But I am calling on the advertisers and publishers to give me tools to make my job easier and create presumptions of protection rather than presumptions of predatory conduct.
The default rules need to be designed to protect families; family profiles should enable computers to know who uses machines, so that when an under-age child logs on, the check against the family profile posted by me to my computer stops my child from lying about his age or at least sends me an e-mail asking if this is correct. The FTC also suggests that better language screening tools be employed for these sites and provides more suggestions.
Finally and perhaps most importantly, the 13-year-old line should not become the line of majority. Most of these sites should be adult-only sites. College students do not hang out with high school and junior high school students at dances or at the mall; neither should they do so online. Make sites more age specific. This may not necessarily 'clean up' high school virtual worlds, but it will at least separate out the activities among the peer groups.
More from the FTC:
“It is far too easy for children and young teens to access explicit content in some of these virtual worlds,” said FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz. “The time is ripe for these companies to grow up and implement better practices to protect kids.”
The FTC surveyed 27 online virtual worlds – including those specifically intended for young children, worlds that appealed to teens, and worlds intended only for adults. The FTC found at least one instance of either sexually or violently explicit content in 19 of the 27 worlds. The FTC observed a heavy amount of explicit content in five of the virtual worlds studied, a moderate amount in four worlds, and only a low amount in the remaining 10 worlds in which explicit content was found.
Of the 14 virtual worlds in the FTC’s study that were, by design, open to children under age 13, seven contained no explicit content, six contained a low amount of such content, and one contained a moderate amount. Almost all of the explicit content found in the child-oriented virtual worlds appeared in the form of text posted in chat rooms, on message boards, or in discussion forums.
The Commission observed a greater amount of explicit content in worlds that were geared towards teens or adults. Twelve of the 13 virtual worlds in this category contained explicit content, with a heavy amount observed in five worlds, a moderate amount in three worlds, and a low amount in four worlds. Half the explicit content found in the teen- and adult-oriented virtual worlds was text-based, while the other half appeared as graphics, occasionally with accompanying audio.
