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Social Networking Taking Appropriate Responsibility Essay example

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In the case of the MySpace lawsuit of 2006, a 14 year-old girl and her mother filed a lawsuit against MySpace after the girl met with a man she had contact with over the website. The meeting started out with dinner and a movie, but ended with the girl getting raped by the 19 year-old man. In Kevin Alexander’s essay titled, “MySpace Not Responsible for Predators”, he places the blame on the mother and the daughter stating that “The girl, as traumatic as her experience was, should be held responsible, too.” His reasoning being that, the girl, at 14 years, was old enough to, “Calculate Risk” as well as have “Other higher brain functions.”. Who is to say that 14 year-olds have that kind of brain function? Today, adolescents and young adults …show more content…

It can be understood that social networking sites can only do so much to ensure the age of their participants, but that doesn't mean that they shouldn't try harder to make the process of applicants more secure. One suggestion may be to have to use a credit card upon registration, so that those using it must be 18 or older. While this is troublesome, it does guarantee the security of the site, therefore, lawsuits should be virtually non-existent since the website has done everything in its power to make sure the blame rests with those who use it. Another precaution is that upon registration, participants much watch or read something that educated on internet safety, involving real life examples. This could be mandatory for everyone, or maybe just for those who have said that they are under 18. Social networking sites would only need to put more effort into the registration process to eliminate the blame aimed at them when something happens that came about through their services. It seems that just checking a box that you agree to their terms isn’t enough to keep them out of court. Instead of blaming the underage participants, let us permit the adults who are old enough to fend for themselves and make wise decisions take the responsibility for their actions, and

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