Schoolgirls’pictures on Facebook: Is anyone safe out there?

Teenagers decry FB for not cracking down on culprits while Lanka’s cyber security centre says privacy settings could curb misuse

As the number of Facebook (FB) users increases in Sri Lanka, so does the number of complaints of misuse with seven cases a day being reported to the Police.

The latest postings to send panic waves among teenage FB users and their parents and give rise to questions about privacy and the safety are a series of photographs of Sri Lankan schoolgirls in uniforms, with explicit comments in Sinhala and Tamil.

Shanika*(21) who is featured in the picture is angry that her privacy has been violated. “I was in uniform in that picture. But the picture was taken like five years ago. The original picture does not even belong to me, although I am tagged in it,” she said.

She added that cyber crime authorities here should contact FB and track down these individuals and take action against those who violate privacy on social media networks.

Trisha*(19) voiced concern that girls were being photographed while they travelled on buses and even school vans.

“How can girls be careful when people take pictures of them without their knowledge while travelling in public transport?” she asked.

Denushka*, also in her late teens complained that whenever she reported these pages to Facebook, the reply was that the page won't be removed as it wasn’t deemed to be offensive.

“The problem is that most of the pictures are decent, but the comments are sexually explicit and are in Sinhala or Tamil. I think it's important for Facebook to have a team of moderators in Sri Lanka, because only someone who can understand the language knows how offensive they are,” she said.

18 year old Himasha* said that it was disappointing that Sri Lankan authorities had not reacted to the complaints and now more pictures have been posted.

“I didn’t tell my parents because I’m afraid how they would react. Most of the girls have not told their parents or informed school authorities. We are helpless,” she said. ing complaints about these photographs they had alerted Facebook to remove the offensive pages.

He said it was difficult to take action because the social media sites too followed privacy policies which make it difficult to track down the culprits.

“Lack of knowledge among people who use Facebook regarding their privacy settings is the main problem. Before one signs up on Facebook, it is important to read about its privacy settings and how to be safe on Facebook etc,”he said.

Elaborating further he said, “Accept friend requests only from your friends and not from strangers. Upload posts or pictures only if it’s required. It is important to remember that FB is a public domain and used globally. Even when adding friends it's always good to double check that this really is your friend and not someone else.”

A senior officer attached to the Criminal Investigation Department's (CID) Cyber Crimes Division that handles cyber related crimes said that a written complaint should be lodged to the Division and depending on the nature of the complaint an inquiry would commence.

“Daily we get about seven complaints related to Facebook. With regard to this particular case though there is no pornography or nudity, the words used is offensive and come under sexual harassment. This can be considered as a criminal offence. Unfortunately, the response from Facebook is very minimal,” the officer said.

According to Internet World Stats site, Sri Lanka has a total of 1.5 million Facebook users and holds the 73 rd position in the list of countries using FB.

A recent report by the Survey Research Lanka (SRL) on Facebook usage revealed that 78 percent of teenagers in the country spend over 45 minutes a day on FB.

The largest group of FB users in the country was between the ages of 18 – 24 with more than 500,000 followed by users in the age group of 25 – 34.

* Names have been changed

Daily we get about seven complaints related to Facebook. With regard to this particular case though there is no pornography or nudity, the words used is offensive and come under sexual harassment. This can be considered as a criminal offence. Unfortunately, the response from Facebook is very minimal.”

A senior officer attached to the Criminal Investigation Department's (CID) Cyber Crimes Division

Thanuksha* aged 20 said when she saw her photographs she immediately informed her friends to report the site and deactivated her profile

“I don’t feel safe on Facebook anymore. I will never upload any pictures. The pictures on my profile are all uploaded by my friends who tag me in them. This is sexual harassment,” she protested.

Mahesh Perera, a father of a 19-year-old said, “It is impossible to stop them being on FB, but with incidents like this parents should be extra vigilant on what photographs their children are posting on FB and whether these photos are only limited to their close friends.”

Meanwhile Roshan Chandragupta Chief Information Security Engineer, of Sri Lanka Computer Emergency Readiness Team (SLCERT), the centre for cyber security in Sri Lanka said on receiv-

“How can girls be careful when people take pictures of them without their knowledge while travelling in public transport?”

Trisha