I am very interested in following the Arkansas case of a 16-year-old boy who filed a complaint with the police resulting in a misdemeanor charge of harassment against his mother for making changes on his Facebook account and then changing his password so he could no longer access it. A similar issue has come up a few times in other contexts around here. A friend of mine has a daughter who goes on to his Facebook account and writes flattering comments about herself as though her Dad had posted them. It is very cute – and very obvious. Another friend got angry with her son who had gone on to her Facebook account and deleted all of the pictures she had posted of him because he didn’t like the pictures. His Mom reposted them and changed her password. I felt uncomfortable with this. Should children have the right to prevent photographs of them from being accessible on the internet? In the original case, I should mention that the Arkansas mother does not have custody of her son and removed content from his account because she didn’t like it. The fact that she essentially locked him out of the account by changing his password indicates that she is not very adept at communication. Rather than speaking with him about the appropriateness of the posts, she simply deleted them. Would you go into your teenager’s Facebook account and modify it? Would you change the password to keep him out? Under what circumstances? If you are a teen, would you go into your parent’s Facebook account and make changes or delete photos or references to you that you did not like? From a legal perspective there is something called criminal impersonation (which requirements vary from state to state), but essentially impersonating someone can be a crime under certain circumstances. If someone were to go onto your Facebook account and make changes, how would you respond?
Using someone else’s Facebook Account – Legal? Ethical?
April 10, 2010 by kimberlyhouser
I think that a child should have the right to protect what images of them go on the internet, including those that are posted by their parent or guardian. I know that I NEVER like the pictures my father chooses to send to my family, much less post on his facebook. He already knows not to tag me, that is our mutual agreement, but if you want to take it one step further and prevent them from posting them at all I think that should be acceptable. I do not think that parents should have the right to change a child’s password and delete things off of their accounts without asking, but perhaps a good solution to this would be to adjust the freedom to access facebook for its younger demographic.
Perhaps certain parental controls could apply, I just thought of this off the top of my head and the kinks would have to be worked out but here is a system I thought about: 1)in order to sign up for a facebook you must be at least 16 years of age, 12 year olds with a facebook seems ridiculous to me 2) If you are under the age of 18 you must sign up for a dual account in which your both your parents and yourself may access the account, and the parents can enforce certain parental controls 3)once you are over the age of 18 your account will adjust so that only you may access it and you may post whatever you want
People lie about their age all the time and it would be difficult to enforce or create a full proof system, but something along those lines seems to be going in the right direction to me.
I would also suggest that parents simply get a facebook and befriend their children, to see what they are up to. There are two problems with that though because there is nothing obligating the child to accept their parent as a friend, and even if they did, with the new privacy options, they could block their parents from seeing anything they know they would disprove of.
Unfortunately, there are kids who are under the age of 12 and have facebook. The more complicated aspect of this is that people lie about their age on the internet and can virtually become anyone they want.
Also, there are already people claiming they are some super-famous celebrity and who make a lot of senseless and hysterical comments. There are even kids claiming they are 18 or older and adults claiming they are kids.
Facebook needs to REFORM and have more regulations of some sort in order to know who an individual truly is and prevent cases such as cyber-bullying and predators, and other forms of defamation.
Facebook needs to REFORM and impose stricter regulations in order to truly know the owner of a webpage.
A parent should respect the request of a child to not post pictures of them, but that same child should not have a right to access or alter an adult’s facebook without permission. However, a parent has the responsibility to control over all internet activity of a minor child. In the Arkansas case, it is hard to call because of the absence of custody…the custodial parent should, I suppose, make that call. As in everything, divorce complicates the entire story.
Each person who uses facebook should have their own liberty to change their webpage. However, Facebook should REFORM or impose stricter restrictions so that the identity of each user is always and truly known. This could help prevent cyber-predators and other individuals who simply seek to defame others.
All of these complications with facebook would be nonexistent if everyone used the site responsibly, and with respect and consideration for others.
Professor Houser presents some good questions at the end of the blog. Below I have provided answers to how I would approach each dilemma.
Would you go into your teenager’s Facebook account and modify it?
No. I would hope that I instilled some sort of code of ethics and morals in my child, and that they would conduct themselves in a respectable manner (both in real life and on the internet). So, theoretically, there should never be a reason for me to modify their profile.
Would you change the password to keep him out? Under what circumstances?
Most likely not; but if I did change their password it would be used as a form of punishment (like taking their phone taken away.).
If you are a teen, would you go into your parent’s Facebook account and make changes or delete photos or references to you that you did not like?
Yes. Some parents get on a high horse and abuse their facebook power (i.e.. post baby photos that should remain unseen, leave embarrassing comments on their kids wall, etc.). Kids who are victimized by their facebook use need to talk to their parents about being considerate facebook users. If parents fail to follow the instructions of responsible facebook use, then the child (victim) has the right to take the initiative and either 1) put their parents on a restricted profile, 2) remove parents from friends list, or 3) make necessary modifications to their parents profile.
Option three is a last resort.
From a legal perspective there is something called criminal impersonation (which requirements vary from state to state), but essentially impersonating someone can be a crime under certain circumstances. If someone were to go onto your Facebook account and make changes, how would you respond?
It depends how drastic, and offenses, the changes were. Small to moderate changes are nothing to get upset about, but if someone does something to your profile that damages your reputation or image in the public then charges of “grand theft identity” should be issued.
Wow. I’m not a fan of facebook. I use it, but all the hype is extremely annoying. Every time my mother posts a picture of me that is unflattering I just untag myself. If someone got on my account and changed it I would merely change it back. And if my password was changed I would do everything I could to delete the account. If I were a parent I would limit my kid’s time on the computer. If there was questionable content, I would speak to them about it and if nothing was done I would most definitely hack into it and delete it. As of pictures I would post, I would merely just not tag him, or ask for his permission to post them. I do believe children should have at least a say in their pictures going into the internet on a social networking site. I would not change the password, however, because I could merely delete the account and he would have to start all over. Discussion is key.
I have an extreme interest for this topic because such occurrences have happened to me as well, two to be specific. One happened when someone got on my facebook account and changed my profile picture to something extremely graphic, and the second time someone changed my birthday to the following day which of course was not my birthday.
Now the second event is obviously more humorous and less important, although when someone does that everyone with whom you are friends with receives a notice so you get all of these posts saying happy birthday and it’s very annoying. However, the first event is a clear example of why it is not only wrong but should be illegal to change information such as this that is open to the public. I have very young siblings and family members who see these things and even though I immediately changed the profile picture back to the original, those with access to my web page saw that I had a very offensive profile picture up and they were notified of it on their facebook page.
Concerning the Arkansas and following cases explained, I believe that there are certain circumstances that provide different outcomes. Above all, before making any actions, I would first talk to my child and explain the issue. If further action needed to be taken, depending upon the content shown, I would absolutely go onto my teenager’s Facebook and modify it. That is of course if they still live under my roof, they are under 18yrs old, and I’m still paying for their internet access. The circumstances would include things like crude or vulgar language, pictures involving illegal or inappropriate behavior, and pictures implying sexual or promiscuous behavior. This all goes double if it’s my daughter…I know… I’m over protective… I get it. However, I wouldn’t change their password so they couldn’t get on; the essential lesson isn’t learned that way. A better course of action would be to modify it, tell them not to change it back, and if they did, ground them from Facebook all together (change the password for a week or something then give it back, I mean what did your parents do when you got your first speeding ticket?)
That’s enough about correct parenting. The underlying issues involved with this topic come from; people, especially teens, underestimating the levels of vulnerability they are exposing themselves to and the potential hazards and consequences involved. Anything on your Facebook can and most likely will be accessed by your current or future employers, along with anyone else you are friends with on the website. As long as the information my parents posted wasn’t extremely embarrassing or insulting, I wouldn’t go onto their account and change anything. Besides, much like the parents point of view, I am sure if asked them to change or take it off, they would. Not to mention, Facebook provides features that allow you to “un-tag” yourself from the picture or discontinue said person from being able to see your info, comment on your page, etc.
From a legal standpoint, depending upon the content and circumstance, I would defiantly take actions involving a lawsuit against that person. If the content is extremely offensive, not only should criminal impersonation charged but in some cases defamation or slander. For example, I have heard of a couple from back home that had a bad break up. One party, in an attempt to salvage their pride and embarrass the other person, posted nude pictures, acquired consensually during the relationship of course, on their own Facebook page. Now the website does not allow nudity to be posted and the person was reported and the pictures were taken off, but a number of people still saw these images. This is only a small example of the potential destruction people can do with access to others accounts or even using information under their own account. Imagine if that person was a school teacher, a boss, a mother, a wife, or anyone whose social, professional, or personal life could be potentially destroyed if items like that or any defamatory information were exposed to such a huge audience.
Depending on the level of damage experienced, the age of those involved, the relationship between the parties involved, and the type of information changed or exposed, there should absolutely legally recognized consequences enforced. An example of a major offense would be; someone 18yrs or older, unrelated to you (co-worker, boy/girl – friend, classmate, someone completely unknown, etc), and without your knowledge, got onto your account and, along with changing your sexual preference and other personal information, made legitimate threats to attack somebody or blow up some building. This would constitute a situation where that person should not only be sued by the other party, but also legally penalized in some form for criminal impersonation and defamation, especially if the victim’s reputation was immensely damaged.
I think there a lot of things that need to be taken into account for this issue. Obviously the Arkansas mother & son suffer from a lack of communication in their relationship. I don’t think anyone should be suing there own mother. It also depends on how old her son is. It sounds like she might be a little bit of a control freak.
Although I don’t agree with the circumstances regarding the mother accessing her son’s account and then changing his password. I do think that parents should be able to monitor the activities/posts that their children are engaging in on social networking sites, like facebook. With the rise of social networking sites, there have been new forms of abuses that have arisen. I think that teenagers more apt to believe that the only way to get social recognition is to be more proactive and try to fit in by engaging in behaviors they may not have been as aware of before facebook. Because social networking sites allow younger individuals to view and become friends with older individuals (who often are at different points in their lives) I think many times they are exposed to things that they are not yet ready to be exposed of nor ready to really understand.
I agree with the majority of the comments already posted. I feel that parents should not have the right to post pictures of their teenage children on public sites especially in an instance when the child asks you specifically not to. A child however, should not be allowed access to a parents’ facebook account unless otherwise approved by the parent. I think most of these facebook issues that are starting to come up can honestly be solved with a little use of common sense.
My daughter has left her husband and out of anger he has changed her password on facebook. He is writing damanging things about her. My daughter’s children and their friends are able to see what he is saying. He also is saying things about me (her mother) that are not true.Iam on facebook also and have friends and family who are reading his garbage.This man is dangerous and I fear for my daughter’s life along with what he is doing to his children.
What about in the case of a parent sending messages to other minors under his minor son’s account accusing them of stuff>?