How to Protect Underage Bloggers Through the Law

The hottest trend in social networking today is the blog—an online diary to be shared with the world at large. It may sound benign, but sharing personal information can put bloggers at risk. This is especially true for bloggers who are underage. Know how to protect underage bloggers through the law to help keep them safe.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Documentation of inappropriate contact (such as emails or instant messages), if applicable
• Computer with Internet access

Laws to Protect Underage Bloggers

1. Be aware that the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) protects underage bloggers by requiring Web sites to clearly state their privacy policy, including what information is collected, how it will be used and the identity of any third parties it may be shared with. You can read a complete explanation of the COPPA law at the Federal Trade Commission Web site (see Resources below).
2. Keep in mind that protection through the COPPA law is limited. Ultimately, it is the parents' responsibility to monitor the online activities of their underage children.
3. Take immediate action through the FBI if your underage child receives unwanted solicitation as the result of posting a blog, such as pornographic images or other inappropriate communication through email (see Resources below).

Exercise Your Parental Influence

4. Encourage your underage child to make use of a blog hosted by his or her school, if available. This affords compliance with the school's Internet Terms of Use, and the material is more likely subject to monitoring (and censorship). This type of blog is also usually a closed source and is not accessible to the public at large.
5. Consider a service geared just for underage bloggers. America Online has launched Red Blogs (see Resources below), which allows parents to limit public access to a blog or even to lock it from public view entirely.

Tips & Warnings

• Parents should be aware that while many popular Web sites state that underage users may not create profiles or become bloggers, the policy usually does more to protect the site from lawsuits than to protect the minor. In fact, sites are often poorly equipped to actually verify the age of their users.