脸谱网的忧虑和13岁以下的儿童

Small children are a big headache for the social network.

社交网络中的小鬼是个大问题。

ONE American in three aged 65 or older uses social networks, says a new report by the Pew Research Centre, a think-tank. But it is the small surfers, not the silver ones, who are currently making waves. Facebook is examining ways to allow children under the age of 13 to use its service, with some form of parental supervision. If this happens-and Facebook stresses that it has not yet decided whether to go ahead-it would be a venture into uncharted territory.

美国智库皮尤研究中心在新发布的一份报告中指出，美国65岁及其以上的老年人中有三分之一使用社交网络。但如今制造状况的却是年纪轻轻的冲浪者，而非满头白发的人。脸谱网将核准允许13岁以下的儿童在某种父母监管形式下使用其服务的方式。如果脸谱网的确将其付诸行动——脸谱网强调它并未决定是否采取进一步的措施——它将在一片未知领域中展开冒险。

Critics howl that young children lack the maturity to cope with social networks. They also worry that Facebook will find devious ways to make money from naive children or, more likely, their parents. "We would be giving the keys to the chicken coop to the fox," says Doug Fodeman of ChildrenOnline.org, a pressure group.

评论者们怒斥道，儿童不够成熟，社交网络上的种种他们应付不来。他们也担心脸谱网会从天真无知的孩子们，或者更有可能是其父母身上赚取不义之财。任职于一家压力集团——儿童网络服务组织——的Doug Fodeman说："我们这是在送羊入虎口。"

There is also the thorny question of how Facebook could comply with the Children's OnlinePrivacy Protection Act (COPPA) in America, which was designed to protect children under 13 as they use the internet. The law stipulates that online services with youngsters among their customers must obtain the consent of the children's parents before collecting data from them. Parents also need to be able to review their children's data and have these deleted if they so wish. The onerous nature of these and other COPPA provisions explains why social networks have tended to shun the young. Facebook insists that you have to be 13 to use its service.

另一个棘手的问题便是脸谱网会如何遵守《儿童网络隐私权法案》(COPPA)，该法案旨在对13岁以下使用因特网的儿童进行保护。法案规定，拥有儿童客户的网络服务须征得其父母同意才能获取他们的资料。父母也同样需要有权审查孩子的资料，并且如果父母觉得有必要，可以删掉孩子的资料。COPPA的上述规定及其它条款繁琐复杂，这就使得社交网络都刻意避开年轻客户。脸谱网则强调，其用户必须年满13岁。

The snag is that children fib about their age. A study by Consumer Reports found that 5.6m children under 13 were using Facebook in America alone. Another survey of American parents found that adults often knew that their children were less than 13 when they joined Facebook. In many cases, the parents helped them to set up their accounts.

不过有个小问题：孩子们会谎报年龄。消费者报告在研究中发现，单在美国就有560万13岁以下的儿童玩脸谱网。另一份针对美国父母的调查表明，父母通常都知道其孩子注册脸谱网时还未满13岁。而且在很多情况下，父母们都会帮助他们开通账户。

Regulators have noticed. Facebook's current musings may reflect the fear that the firm will run into trouble if it does nothing. It already has slightly more robust privacy settings for children between the ages of 13 and 17. But it would need a far tighter regime for younger children, says Sarah Downey of Abine, an online consumer-privacy company.

网络监管部门已注意到了这点。脸谱网当前的考量是它担心如果无任何作为，公司便会麻烦缠身。它已为13至17岁的用户建立了更为健全的隐私设置。不过，来自网络客户隐私保护公司亿邦公司的Sarah Downey说，脸谱网也许需要为13岁以下的儿童设立更为严格的监管机制。

In spite of its plummeting share price, Facebook has oodles of cash from its recent stockmarket flotation. So it could easily hire the extra staff needed to support parents and their youngsters, as well as to ensure compliance with COPPA. Mark Zuckerberg, the social network's boss, has said he believes children's education should start early. Now he has a chance to prove that he means it.

尽管脸谱网股价暴跌，但近期的上市使得它有大笔现金入帐。因此，雇佣额外所需员工为父母及其孩子提供服务，并且使这些员工遵守COPPA,对脸谱网而言也许并非难事。该社交网站的老板Mark Zuckerberg说，对儿童的教育应尽早开始。如今便有一个机会摆在他面前，让他证明自己不是说说而已。