Facebook is getting lots of heat for a survey question that popped up for some of its users, asking:
"When thinking about the rules for deciding whether a private message in which an adult man asks a 14 year old girl for sexual pictures should or should not be allowed on Facebook, ideally who do you think should be deciding the rules?"
The response options:
- Facebook decides the rules on its own
- Facebook decides the rules with advice from external experts
- External experts decide the rules and tell Facebook
- Facebook users decide the rules by voting and tell Facebook
- I have no preference
A digital editor at The Guardian, Jonathan Haynes called Facebook out publically on Twitter for it's outrageous question. Then Facebook's Vice President of Product Guy Rosen responded saying it was a "mistake".
I don't need to be the one to tell you that child exploitation is wrong. It should be well known so the fact that this "mistake" even got by under the radar is a bit nerveracking to me. How does that happen? It seems to be a pretty straight forward thing to understand that underage girls showcasing their bodies in a way that gets people going should not be publically allowed. If it's illegal for girls under 18 to have sexual relations with those over 18, it should also be illegal for sexual images to be floating around out there getting people going. It's sexual exploitation, bottom line.
Overall, obviously not a good look for Facebook...