Attorneys general reach Facebook agreement

Texas AG refuses to sign agreement, saying the arrangement is too vague

In October, Gansler launched a program called CLICKS — Community Leadership in Cyber Knowledge and Safety — to train law enforcement, educators and community leaders in online child protection.

‘‘As the popularity of social networking sites continues to grow, the steps being [taken] by sites like Facebook and MySpace are essential to helping keep our young people safer while online,” Gansler said in a statement.

The attorneys general reached a similar deal with MySpace in January. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott did not sign the MySpace or Facebook agreements because both are too vague, he said.

‘‘Specifically, we do not believe that Facebook.com — or any other social networking site — can adequately protect minors until an age verification system is effectively developed and implemented,” Abbott wrote in a May 8 letter to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. ‘‘We are concerned that our signing the joint statement could be misperceived as an endorsement of the inadequate safety measures contained therein.”

Facebook has also agreed to restrict users’ ability to change their listed ages and act quicker to remove inappropriate content and groups from the site. Facebook officials will join a task force, led by MySpace officials, to explore and develop age and identity identification tools for all social networking sites, according to Gansler’s office.

Under the changes, the first time a Facebook user wants to change his or her age, Web site staff will review the profile to determine whether the change is appropriate. It will also keep a list of pornographic Web sites and remove groups for incest, pedophilia and cyberbullying. Facebook also agreed to better display tips on the site and require users under 18 to affirm they read the tips before signing up.