Open Meeting for Facebook Task Force

There is going to be an open meeting of the Facebook Task Force Thursday at Mizzou. It is going to be a discussion of what the task force is, and most likely a chance for students to ask questions of the task force. Ever since I first heard of the Facebook Task Force I have been intrigued by it. I am curious as to what the Task Force exactly is, and what the motivations behind it are. Students are concerned that they could get in trouble for photos of underage drinking that are linked to their profiles. The big question is, should the Task Force be allowed to do such a thing?

I think they should be able to do that, my reason being that I would hope the Task Force would pursue legal action if photos of a rape or murder were linked to the website, so why not underage drinking? If they don't, it's like saying that one crime is okay and another is not. The important part is not whether or not they pursue underage drinking and other criminal action through the Task Force, the important part is making their motives known. They currently claim that they are simply studying what Facebook is and are looking out for the students who have profiles on it. They want to study it so they can learn of any dangers and alert students to these dangers. That is fine, but if they want to start looking into student's behaviors and whether or not those behaviors are appropriate (as rumors around campus suggest), they need to make their motives known.

Publish Date: February 14 in the Missourian.