bebo in the dock

thebaz · 26-10-2006 11:09PM #1

Bebo has hit the headline of the Herald tonight , for pretty sick reasons.
Apparently a bunch of pervs up in Drogheda lured some 14 year old girls to a house in Drogheda , plied them with drink and proceeded to rape one of the girls . The problem i see is anyone (adult) can create an account pretend to be 14 or 15, and lure young teens or pre teens, with false information. More control is needed on Bebo end , to stamp false impersonations, particularly for impressionable young girls.

Dave! · 26-10-2006 11:15PM

Where were the parents? Bebo does its part, it has safety tips and so on, and it allows you to make your profile private. They also tell you not to put up personal information and not to meet people in real life. Most people are capable of abiding by these rules and know not to do sh*t like this.

Now I'd like to know (you probably don't know, so this isn't directed at you) what the parents did to prevent this. I'm sure they at least checked their childrens' Bebo sites. Perhaps sat down with them and asked them to tell them about all of their friends. Perhaps registered their own account under an assumed name, and did some investigative work. Surely.

Or did they just leave their children to it....

seamus · 26-10-2006 11:16PM

Yes, it's bebo's fault that a 14-year-old girl can be lured to a house and plied with drink without her parent's knowledge.

Look at it this way - how is it any different to this group of people walking up to the girls, sweet-talking them, and inviting them back to a house. Why did her parents not know where she was going?

sonic juice · 26-10-2006 11:17PM

They sound like idiots

Dave! · 26-10-2006 11:18PM

sonic juice wrote:

They sound like idiots

Why don't you tell us what you really think

thebaz · 26-10-2006 11:19PM

The whole idea of bebo being so popular , is that teenagers do not want there parents reading there site .. theres lots of boasting about drink, sex etc . which they obviously don't want there parents reading.
Also a lot of the teens would be more computer literate than there parents , and i assume would be creating multiple accounts .

greenkittie · 26-10-2006 11:20PM

I met people off the internet at 14 but i would never have ended up this situation. These girls were clearly idiots, something bad would have happened them bebo or no bebo.

Karoma · 26-10-2006 11:21PM

thebaz wrote:

The whole idea of bebo being so popular , is that teenagers do not want there parents reading there site .. theres lots of boasting about drink, sex etc . which they obviously don't want there parents reading.
Also a lot of the teens would be more computer literate than there parents , and i assume would be creating multiple accounts .

And again, this is BEBO.com's responsibility or fault how?

thebaz's first knee-jerk reaction wrote:

More control is needed on Bebo end , to stamp false impersonations, particularly for impressionable young girls.

Placebo · 26-10-2006 11:22PM

i blame bebo. just close it down.
plus its badly made.i open new window and leaves comment for that when im posting it in the first, jesus, and now this.
close.

thebaz · 26-10-2006 11:23PM

seamus wrote:

Yes, it's bebo's fault that a 14-year-old girl can be lured to a house and plied with drink without her parent's knowledge.

Look at it this way - how is it any different to this group of people walking up to the girls, sweet-talking them, and inviting them back to a house. Why did her parents not know where she was going?

Bebo should control more securly the creation of accounts , i know for a fact that pre teens are using it . Bebo offers initial contact , which paedophiles can use cunningly to lure young unsuspecting children , using false accounts.

:| · 26-10-2006 11:23PM

thebaz wrote:

The whole idea of bebo being so popular , is that teenagers do not want there parents reading there site .. theres lots of boasting about drink, sex etc . which they obviously don't want there parents reading.
Also a lot of the teens would be more computer literate than there parents , and i assume would be creating multiple accounts .

Bebo is just an online version of what happens everyday in life, this is in no way bebo's fault, like someone said its not much different from them luring them back from the street

MrJoeSoap · 26-10-2006 11:24PM

The Evening Herald is a rag. There are sick people in the world, and bebo did not create them.

thebaz · 26-10-2006 11:26PM

Karoma wrote:

And again, this is BEBO.com's responsibility or fault how?

Yes they have a responsibilty as the providers of a social network, to ensure adequate security is given to its users , who in the main are 11 to 16 year olds i.e. children .

MrJoeSoap · 26-10-2006 11:27PM

thebaz wrote:

Yes they have a responsibilty as the providers of a social network, to ensure adequate security is given to its users , who in the main are 11 to 16 year olds i.e. children .

Does boards.ie have the same responsibility so?

Ruu_Old · 26-10-2006 11:28PM

MrJoeSoap wrote:

The Evening Herald is a rag. There are sick people in the world, and bebo did not create them.

Agreed, this issue was brought up before. Bebo do enough, I don't know what the other features they have but users can keep their pages private and accessible to their friends only. Of course they can't be forced to use the feature, but its there. If people want to put up their phone numbers and addresses, its their own lookout, unfortunately as it is in this case.

daiixi · 26-10-2006 11:29PM

You are kidding me right? I did plenty of dumb things as a teenager (and young adult) without my parents knowing about it and the only person who can be blamed is me. People need to take responsibility for their own actions and in this case it's the girls who did something stupid.

thebaz · 26-10-2006 11:30PM

MrJoeSoap wrote:

Does boards.ie have the same responsibility so?

No -- its profile and use is complty different , although there are some children on boards !

Karoma · 26-10-2006 11:31PM

You cited the main flaws are that the 'children' are avoiding common sense... AGAIN: What on Earth could BEBO do that the 'children' will not avoid?

"I red teh Evenin' Hegald...bebo's evil and rapes me stupid childerun."

destraynor · 26-10-2006 11:38PM

The blame here lies with the kids lack of understanding about the real world. This has to come from the parents, and to a certain extent the schooling.

One of my nieces has "computers" on Fridays where they learn how to make flyers and write letters in Word. What they should be learning about is the internet, privacy, online interactions, all that sort of stuff.

Incidentally I do believe that Bebo should, by default, make the pages of under 18 yr olds private. When we were building Bigulo, it was the first oddity we noticed. Stories such as this one are precisely why we pulled all the under 18s from the database. We could see rags like the herald writing us up as accessories to crime and the like.

thebaz · 26-10-2006 11:38PM

Karoma wrote:

You cited the main flaws are that the 'children' are avoiding common sense... AGAIN: What on Earth could BEBO do that the 'children' will not avoid?."

Provide some kind of protection against older predators , who will use bebo to stalk , as has just happened up in Louth.
I'm not saying its bebo fault 100 or 50 % , its obviously the sickos, but bebo play a role in providing a service that can be abused , against vulnerable children.
Most society try to provide protection to there vulnerable.
Put it like this if it was your child that was raped how would you feal ?

Karoma · 26-10-2006 11:41PM

Sympathetic but embarrassed: s/he went to a private place without supervision or cop-on; to get drunk; with strange adults - by all definitions - an idiot child & I'd be a terrible parent.

It's the "sickos" and the kids+parents. BEBO doesn't come into it. Caring society protects the vulnerable; nanny states protect people from themselves. you're proposing the further of the ever-emerging nanny state. Screw that.

generalmiaow · 26-10-2006 11:44PM

thebaz wrote:

Provide some kind of protection against older predators , who will use bebo to stalk , as has just happened up in Louth.
I'm not saying its bebo fault 100 or 50 % , its obviously the sickos, but bebo play a role in providing a service that can be abused , against vulnerable children.
Most society try to provide protection to there vulnerable.
Put it like this if it was your child that was raped how would you feal ?

I'd be interested to know how they could implement such protection. I know someone wrote a script to find sex offenders on myspace but that's hardly going to defend against someone who doesn't use their real name. You can't simply ban older people from using the service either.

MrJoeSoap · 26-10-2006 11:45PM

thebaz wrote:

Put it like this if it was your child that was raped how would you feal ?

Somewhat guilty I'd imagine.

26-10-2006 11:47PM

thebaz wrote:

Yes they have a responsibilty as the providers of a social network, to ensure adequate security is given to its users , who in the main are 11 to 16 year olds i.e. children .

This has been happening for years in chatrooms.

Anyways, legally I don't think bebo have to do anything. They've pretty much covered themselves with the safety tips.

Sympathetic but embarrassed: s/he went to a private place without supervision or cop-on; to get drunk; with strange adults - by all definitions - an idiot child & I'd be a terrible parent.

That is true. The blame rests more with the parents than bebo themselves. I mean any time I left the house as a teenager, I let my mam know where I was going and that I had my mobile on me if needed.

Karoma · 26-10-2006 11:55PM

generalmiaow wrote:

I'd be interested to know how they could implement such protection. I know someone wrote a script to find sex offenders on myspace but that's hardly going to defend against someone who doesn't use their real name. You can't simply ban older people from using the service either.

Just to preempt some bull****(not aimed at you,generalmiaow): numerous cases reported didn't involve "older people".

thebaz · 27-10-2006 12:06AM

MrJoeSoap wrote:

Somewhat guilty I'd imagine.

thats a fairly sick response

Karoma · 27-10-2006 12:13AM

I believe his point was mine, albeit condensed: I, as the parent, should/would feel guilty as I should/would be responsible. It's a fair response. Stop overreacting.

MrJoeSoap · 27-10-2006 12:16AM

thebaz wrote:

thats a fairly sick response

If you had a 14 year old child, who had just been out drinking and had been raped, you wouldn't feel at all guilty or responsible?

Thats sick.

Piste · 27-10-2006 12:20AM

thebaz wrote:

that's a fairly sick respone

How the hell is that a sick response? You mean you wouldn't feel guilty if your precious little darling (fcuking idiot though she may be) went and got herself raped by a guy she met on the internet? Would you not feel you had completely failed as a parent?

GAA widow · 27-10-2006 12:24AM

greenkittie wrote:

I met people off the internet at 14 but i would never have ended up this situation. These girls were clearly idiots, something bad would have happened them bebo or no bebo.

I agree with greenkittie - people think at 14 girls are "young and impressionable" etc which to a degree, is true. However 14 year olds have a fair amount of health ed behind them at this stage - from not trusting strangers to saying "no". They are not imbeciles.

I remember at 14 meeting two "security guards" at a concert who were making sure that no one wandered down whatever road. A friend of mine introduced me to them having chatted to them the previous night. To me, at 14, they were "old" and dodgy as. They started getting a bit crude and i said to my friend that we should head home. She took no notice and one "security guard" suggested she she walk with hin down the closed off road because there was a fantastic view of the concert down the road.
She took no notice of me and headed off with this guy. I stood chatting to the other security guard in the meantime and basically gave off the impression that i was not up for this crap and wanted to head home. When she came back we said our goodbyes and *shock horror* she told me on the way home that the "security guard" had snogged her etc. but nothing full on.

Regardless of the "security guard" I have to say at the time I was disgusted with her at because it was obvious what type of situation she would end up in and she let herself wind up in this situation. I remember saying to her "did you not say 'no' that you didn't want it to happen" and she said "well, i couldn't really". Poor saddo wanted to be act all "grown up" and be a pricktease - At the time i could just not fathom how she would knowingly let herself get into that type of situation - it made - and still makes - me sick to my stomach.

I had told her this was a bad idea more than once and wanted her to go home but she was having none of it.

Any kid nowadays knows meetiing someone off the net=risky.

I am sorry about what happened to those kids but 14 year olds are not as impressionable and way more copped on than adults give them credit for.

Mossy Monk · 27-10-2006 12:25AM

thebaz wrote:

thats a fairly sick response

how so?

bebo in the dock

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