It’s no secret that I’m not a huge fan of Facebook. I use it, but I try to put as little info as possible on there about myself, and I don’t use any of their apps. I like my privacy, thank you very much. However, I see the appeal of it to teenagers, as my step-daughter uses is like mad. What disheartens me about this is that every week she seems to come to her mother and I about some old guy who was trying to flirt with her. She’s fifteen. We tell her to block the person, and report him. She does, and that’s the end of that. Sadly though, not all stories end like this.

Case in point: a 17-year old British girl named Ashleigh Hall who was lured by a 33-year old convicted sex offender posing as a teenage boy. Hall was raped and murdered by the “boy” she met on Facebook. It breaks my heart when I hear something like this, and makes me want to rip the PSP from my step-daughter’s hand in order to protect her. Bottom line is – she’s not meeting with anyone she meets online. Period.

With that being said, what is Facebook doing about all of this? Well, in the UK they have implemented a panic button, but only after feeling the pressure from the British government. Created by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Center (CEOP), the app adds a button to a users profile, and when they press it, it alerts not only the CEOP website, but also to nine other different sources of help including Childline and Beatbullying. First on board were MySpace and Bebo. Facebook initially resisted the app, claiming its protection and reporting systems were adequate. They turned face though, and eventually added the CEOP app.

That’s all well and good, Facebook, but what about here in the United States? Sadly, we have nothing like it. Instead, Facebook requires you to click on “Account” then “Help Center” then “Safety” then “Safety for Teens.” Not exactly user friendly, and certainly not when someone is bullying a young girl, or making sexual advances towards her.

The Ashleigh Hall case is just one example of young girls being lured by these online, social networking sites that has ended in tragedy. Back in the day, MySpace was the prime spot for pedophiles to hang out. Now it seems that with Facebook taking over the world, they have become the place to be for criminals to hang.

How long will it be before something like the CEOP app comes to the States? Is it going to take a nation wide story of a teenage girl being raped and murdered for Facebook to beef up its security? Sadly, I think the answer is yes, and that my friends, is a true crime.

(Image via posterous)