Complaints against Facebook

Tuesday, 13 July 2010 20:31

By Indika Sri Aravinda

The police women and child’s bureau has received over 50 complaints against the social networking website Facebook. According to the bureau the complaints include individuals copying pictures of Facebook account holders and creating indecent images.

The bureau said they have received close to 20 such complaints within the last two months and they have launched an investigation into these complaints. The bureau added these perpetrators use the Facebook account holder’s name when they commit these acts.

When Daily mirror online inquired from the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) the Director General of TRC, Anusha Palpita said they have not received complaints regarding the misuse of Facebook.

The police women and child’s bureau said that they have requested TRC to look into the possibility to restrict access to Facebook. However the TRC says access to Facebook is an individual right.

“Access to Facebook is a human right so we can’t take measures to block the site. Besides, if we take measures to block the site, the internet speed will reduce and this will effect the country’s reputation in the technological aspect,” Palpita said.

However, he added individuals can take measures to block the site within the company but added that although there are laws to prevent computer related crimes; it is difficult to implement such laws in the country.

Facebook; a social network site which has immense popularity universally was blocked in Pakistan in May when certain individuals had created a blasphemous page regarding Prophet Muhammad. However, two weeks later Pakistan lifted the ban and said it would continue to block individual pages containing "blasphemous" content.

Similarly, Bangladesh also banned Facebook in May after the arrest of a youth in connection with uploading satiric images of some politicians including the prime minister and the leader of the opposition. The Bangladesh Telecom Regulatory Commission (BTRC) accounted reasons such as posting anti- religious and pornographic links by users across the globe were some of the reasons for restricting the access. In June, a week after the ban on Facebook was implemented the government lifted it. (Daily Mirror online)

Comments

-13+55#empee2010-07-13 20:36

will they ban facebook?!

-19+77#shavantha2010-07-13 20:50

Now This is will be silly if they block FB

-91+43#Gen2010-07-14 05:15

Fb is a useless gossip site ... nothing productive can be gained from it!

-7+48#ranil2010-07-14 10:16

That maybe the case for you but so many people are using FB for good causes other than just keeping in touch with friends and family across the globe.
If you don't like it...stay away from it.
Dont't blame the tool when someone commits a crime.
this is like trying to ban household knives just because some person used one to stab another and commit murder!
Are we going back to the dark ages here or what????

-1+18#momo2010-07-14 11:55

Also there are enough ways to use the Facebook sensibly with privacy protections to save one's privacy. So it is better the people get educatd in this issues. No need to blame anybody doing mischief if you care for yourself and make privacies. In this technologial era, we should find ways and means of tackling the problems technically rather than blindly close the door.

-32+45#Sura2010-07-13 20:56

TRC should get prompt action to arrest this kind of misuse/abuse of facebook.

-25+63#RF2010-07-13 20:56

"possibility to restrict access to Facebook" typical sri lankan attitude

-2+14#Geronimo2010-07-14 08:51

The easiest way out in this land of paranoia going back to the stone age, and fast!!!!!

-1+22#jeena2010-07-14 09:58

most Sri lankans seem suffer from a certain complex that they oppose almost anything said or done by others, thats why we are still in the STONE AGEs even though we look modern.! we are too lazy to be creative instead we keep re-inventing the wheel over and over and still dont seem to progress but keeping finding faults on others. WE SRI LANKANS NEED A CHANGE IN ATTITUDE TO BE SUCCESSFUL.

-22+4#Gen2010-07-14 12:38

Most of the western countries are now considering a total ban on FB. Why can't we sri lankans support the gov to Ban this rubbish.
Didnt u communicate with ur friends and share pics before FB?? Use email.

-2+14#Ronnie2010-07-14 19:17

I challenge you to name (and cite) one such western country that is considering banning FB. Just one. Athi Pandithaya

-12+6#Raj2010-07-14 10:05

What would you do if someone created a facebook profile with your photo? and gave facts about you which will embarrass you?

-1+13#John2010-07-14 10:49

What I'd do is complain to facebook and not go crazy by trying to take the whole site down. How about a measured response instead of going to extremes?

-2+7#Saradial2010-07-14 15:16

If someone created your photo and distributed through email, will you ask government to ban email service?

-3+92#DeAmO2010-07-13 21:01

People who use facebook can restrict as to who can actually "see" their pictures. And, there is also links provided by facebook themselves to report inappropriate pictures and pages.

-1+22#panduka KDM2010-07-14 09:35

Well Said. In an age of information the individual must take necessary measures to protect his/her privacy. THERE ARE CONTROLS PROVIDED WITHIN FACEBOOK for this purpose.

-3+109#david2010-07-13 21:04

It is not facebook's fault.
it is who cry about foul play.
Why these people allow unknown people to be friends of themselves?
Why they upload their pictures in the internet?

-90+14#citizen2010-07-13 21:23

According to The police women and child’s bureau, facebook should be Block in srilanka. otherwise it will kill our culture. parents should beware on this.

-3+11#John2010-07-14 10:50

I feel sorry for this culture of ours as it seems that pretty much anything these days (gays, facebook, tourism, alcohol) can kill it.

-8+58#CLA2010-07-13 21:38

I will not be surprised if they ban FB too....Unless Namal R stand against it....

-67+18#Wasantha2010-07-13 21:43

Good for those who has nothing to do and finding ways to spend the day. Serious threat to the productivity of the country.

-2+20#siripala2010-07-14 08:39

I would like to know befoe FB was invented (before 2004) and became famous in SL (before 2007) was there productivity in this country????

-6+34#Podi Guru2010-07-13 21:56

This all sounds a little fishy.

-3+28#citizen12010-07-13 22:42

This is the giddy limit! Why are the authorities on a rampage
to clamp down on anything remotely sociable??? Meanwhile corruption wihin the police/govt etc are at an all time high!

-4+20#Gon Namba2010-07-14 03:39

We should all stay at home and practice religion!

-0+5#Ronnie2010-07-14 19:29

Why don't they just ban the internet so that we can just live happily in the stone age? Such a backward country. Even Indians must be laughing.

-6+34#mahesh2010-07-13 23:03

ya so that they can stop people sharing and discussing about the nutty politicians

-0+8#SriLankan2010-07-14 12:37

True, government wants people to stick to state media, and listen to what they say. They are trying to ban all the other ways of getting information.

-28+6#RajasH2010-07-14 00:52

Facebook is flawed and suffers from security issues!

-1+42#wasanthi Madurapperu2010-07-14 01:18

The fault is not with Fb, it must be used intelligently. Fb is perhaps the fastest and most popular method used for sharing knowledge and information. Most businesses and acadamic institutions are now linked to Fb, for this purpose. Educate users on how to use Fb, safely!

-3+14#tweety2010-07-14 09:36

Very True!

-46+10#Lanka2010-07-14 03:25

It is a good decision to ban Facebook in every country! It's now 'out of control' and being widely used by 'spammers' and criminals!

-0+13#sltk20042010-07-14 08:57

Its not the fault of Facebook. Facebook itself won't come and grab information about you - its the users who upload information to FB. You should control what you want to share with the others (and internet community) and you should select friends wisely. No matter how closely you guard information about you, if you have friends who are careless and foolish, they could always get you into trouble in FB...

-3+21#haha2010-07-14 09:36

lol. we might as well shut down the internet while we are at it. Without the internet, there will be no spammers, etc etc.

-3+20#aghu2010-07-14 09:37

Wake up, get a life. instead of being FROGS IN A WELL!

-1+12#jeena2010-07-14 09:52

then we should ban internet also completely and only in sri lanka because we have lots of primitive people like you. If you dont like it Stay away from IT !

-1+11#Wise2010-07-14 07:10

Don't block Facebook, arrest those morons who have done illegal acts.

-0+9#thishya.weragoda2010-07-14 07:44

so I guess, Facebook and Twitter will be next on the Guillotine

-2+7#Adam2010-07-14 08:05

FB will be a disaster in the future, My FB was hacked and also my email a/c. Now I can't use any of those, This happened to two of my friends on the same day. Be careful with FB. Please get out of FB or at lease don't post ur personal information and pics.
Cheers

-0+9#John2010-07-14 10:53

your facebook and email were hacked because either you didn't pick a good password or you didn't pick a good security question. Your shortcomings should not be blamed on FB. Would you blame the knife if you used it to cut yourself?

-3+0#Alipola2010-07-14 13:39

You seem to be an Expert in hacking!! hmmm.....

-0+5#sltk20042010-07-14 12:47

Hacking is a criminal activity. It is not the fault of FB - it happens to many applications.

If burglars break into your house, do you stop living in houses ? You should have precautions and insurance etc. Similarly you should use proper security tools - example strong passwords...

-0+13#Mark2010-07-14 08:53

This is not a problem with Facebook, its the problem of upbringing and attitude of the users, parents should knw how to bring their children up for a better society.... blocking sites will not achieve anything but will induce towards other things... THINK and ACT...

-0+11#SAS2010-07-14 09:20

there are lot of social network site available....impossible to restrict all of them. In FB privacy settings are available to use by user to vaiod such activities

-0+12#Nishma2010-07-14 09:28

In China it is still banned. ! We do hope it wont happen here!
Who knows! It's all upto "THEM". But I'm sure It will be there as long as they can use it for them!

-3+11#podi malli2010-07-14 09:28

ban parliament and imprison all politicians including the president. or ban FB and all other programs and start listen stories of our politicians.

-0+13#Alistaire2010-07-14 09:34

Facebook is at 350 million users and growing daily. The revenue potential from such a large group of users is tremendous. As with any such phenomenon you do get people who abuse it but users should be educated and know how to use the site without being exploited. If some picture, message or video is abusive users can complain to facebook. In any case users under 13 are not allowed on Facebook and neither is porn so I dont know what the huge hallabaloo is all about.

-2+14#sadistic teenager2010-07-14 09:49

yet another reason to migrate to a modern developed democratic country.

-14+3#shane bandara2010-07-14 09:58

My suggestion is SL government should not ban Facebook.

Instead, they should ask all Sri Lankan FB users to put their mobile phone number to the profile and verify identity.

If they do not verify themselves, all those profiles should be removed. And after that, it is very easy to track wrong doers.

-1+10#Dee2010-07-14 10:05

facebook is a menace anyway , hence access is blocked in companies, but its how tech savy the user is which will decide on his/ her privacy. Like all things in this land , if used by the wrong user, there is bound to be problems and there is no point in complaining. People shold not use it because everyone else does, learn before using and your privacy is assure.

-0+15#Fahir Ismail2010-07-14 10:09

Why don't those people who complained, use the "Privacy Settings" provided in FB?? They know nothing about this or are not willing to spare some time to go through these settings for their own safety? I have noticed many of the Sri Lankan women never restrict their FB profile only for their trusted people.. they are open for everyone. So definitely the culprits will mis-use them. USE PRIVACY SETTINGS & RESTRICT ACCESS ONLY FOR THE TRUSTED ONES!!!

-2+13#GMJ2010-07-14 10:10

Out of 1 million Sri Lankan FB Users, only 50 complaints?? They can easily press the "REPORT ABUSE" button on FB other than making a big scene. If those people are technically challenged, they shouldn't use technology at all, The people who uses FB knows that its not a place of abuse.

-16+5#Kapila Gihan2010-07-14 10:15

FB is a waste of time and is making unwanted trouble for children. it is good to ban

-2+7#ISRATH2010-07-14 10:20

Facebook became crucial among the youngsters and even the family. It facilitate us to share our significant moment with our friends who far away, I don’t think complete prohibition of the site is not the best solution but limited barriers can overcome this issue.

-1+2#ISRATH2010-07-14 10:30

I don’t think complete prohibition of the site is the best solution but limited barriers can overcome this issue.

-2+2#anura2010-07-14 10:30

Banning Face Book is not the answer.There are many ways to access banned sites.Do not take foolish decisions.Behave like adults.Not like children.

-3+5#Gayan Samarasekara2010-07-14 10:32

Hey,,, FB is a must. Don't ban it.;... I don't know how to enjoy the life without it.. As same as water. FB is a primary need. :)

-1+6#Praveen Anupame2010-07-14 11:21

Facebook is one of the future tools for marketing, if we ban facebook in Sri Lanka it will effect to our economy as well (in long term). And also we should know that we cant ban any website 100% from anywhere. Because nowadays our kids also know how to visit banned website using proxies. So blocking facebook will not help. As mentioned in this article it will reduce the national internet speed.

So as a SEO Specialist i would like to suggest to Sri Lankan Government that they should form a team for cyber crimes. Because nowadays also there are lot of crimes happening through internet relevant to Sri Lanka. I would like to work for free if they start such team. Because Sri Lanka need it.

-6+3#Nature2010-07-14 11:30

Believe me !!! many people have closed their Face book accounts recently world wide

-1+3#Karthik2010-07-14 11:48

FB is the 2nd largest website in this planet now. So I cant believe you!!

-0+1#Ronnie2010-07-14 19:26

Believe you? Hahaha. You probably don't even know what FB is. You are one of those people who think they know something.

-0+2#Chamara2010-07-14 11:35

I know most of Sri Lankan's doesn't get what does it mean by social networking & the benefits of it. But my business is mostly depend on Facebook. I hope Mr. Palpita has some sense on these matter.

-0+4#Tonpacha2010-07-14 11:56

People should know the dangers and risks before posing for internet. Any thing that is sent to the internet is beyond your control.

-2+1#roshan raz2010-07-14 12:08

never share personal information adn/or photographs on any network. it is not safe.
face book is a waste of time. internet is very useful . why dont people use it for productive things?

-0+4#sltk20042010-07-14 13:00

If we apply the same rule, most of the things we do are wastes of time. What productivity do cricket matches, football matches, stage dramas, musical shows give ? They give us entertainment. We should be both productive and also be entertained. Each thing should be done at the correct time.

-0+1#Perera2010-07-14 12:17

If there is a restriction to download anyone's photos without the permission of the person who uploaded them then there wont be any problem. I don't know whether there is any way to do it?

-0+4#Andy2010-07-14 12:37

They can simpley increase the security settings in Facebook

-0+1#Tom Malee2010-07-14 13:28

The users should be responsible for the photos/videos and messages that they post of themselves in the profile & it is also their choice to be or not to be on FB - basic Human Right.. Thus blocking Facebook is silly.. in that case there are so many other social sites / blogs that needs to be blocked as well...

-0+3#P.K.Raamachandran2010-07-14 15:12

Facebook has it's own advantage & disadvantage, it depends on how we see it & use it ,as told by many it is a useful tool for business,and also helps us to locate old friends who we have lost touch with for a long time. In such a case it is useful, of course lets not reveal confidential info about us.

-0+3#FAZROON2010-07-14 19:51

it depends how people utilise it....

-2+0#kanis2010-07-15 12:09

FB can be abused very easily. Anybody can create a profile under any name and get into it. I know many friends who had false users posing as friends and getting invited into friends list

-0+0#Latha Rajapaksa2010-07-17 10:45

First complaint was: facebook was down - I was not able to get to the website.

-0+0#SL Citizen2010-07-22 08:47

When i saw this I couldn't believe it. If parents don't want there children to use Facebook, they can install a 3rd party application and block the site and monitor what their children do.

Privacy settings are there for a reason. You can put such privacy settings that people can't even view your profile on facebook.
It's not facebook's fault if you go accepting every friend request from people you don't know. If you don't like facebook, you don't have to sign-up on facebook. Simple as that. As many, almost 99.9% of the people use facebook to find old school friends, keep in touch with friends and family all over the world and share memories. Well atleast that's the reason why i'm on facebook.

So I thank your TRC.

-0+0#CHARLES2011-02-08 07:02

MOST OF YOU BELONG TO THE STONEAGE, THAT IS IF YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS,LOOK IN THE OXFORD DICTIONARY NOT THE COLOMBO 7 DICTIONARY??GOOD LUCK WITH IT!!!

-0+0#LilacFray2011-12-28 16:26

THAT IS HYPOCRISY! They should put an age limit. And since when did Sri Lankan parents start acting this way when it came to parenting? Can't they control their kids? Password protect and use all that sort of things but this is absurd.

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