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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-06-08 Daily Xml
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FACEBOOK

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (15:00): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the minister representing the Attorney-General a question regarding the Facebook internet site.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD: I was recently contacted by a constituent (a South Australian resident) who was very concerned about her daughter's activities on Facebook. I am advised by the constituent that her 17-year-old daughter recently posted a number of inappropriate photographs of herself on her Facebook page. Apparently, they are a series of photographs that were uploaded by the daughter which could be misconstrued by people looking at the site.

The mother is a very conscientious parent who began inquiring about her daughter's online activities after watching an American program that suggested parents should take an active role in their children's use of the internet. The program also noted that parents in that county could have their children's Facebook accounts shut down or inappropriate material posted by their children removed by contacting the website. When this parent contacted Facebook in Australia, in accordance with that suggestion, asking for the inappropriate pictures to be removed, she received the following response:

For security and privacy reasons, we will not be able to correspond with you about the account. Facebook is forbidden by federal and many state laws to take any action on or release any information regarding a user's account to anyone who is not the account holder. All users ages 13 and older are considered authorised account holders and are included in the scope of this policy.

The SAPOL website encourages parents to:

Set up the computer in a public area of the home, not in a bedroom. Always supervise and monitor internet use within your family.

However, the worrying reply from Facebook seems to imply that parents have no control over items posted on Facebook by their children aged 13 years or older. My questions are:

1. Does the Attorney-General agree that parents should keep close track of their children's activities online, and should they be able to remove inappropriate content from sites such as Facebook for their underage children?

2. What, if any, South Australian privacy act, or any other act, actually reduces the ability of parents to properly be able to remove inappropriate content from sites that their children may put online?

3. What are the Attorney-General's plans to deal with this matter?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Public Sector Management, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Government Enterprises, Minister for Gambling) (15:03): I thank the honourable member for his important questions. Indeed, these are very challenging issues for parents, particularly parents of young children or young adults. It is a growing problem in terms of ensuring the safety of our children and young adults, and I will be pleased to refer those questions to the Attorney-General in another place and bring back a response.

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