Australian police have warned teenagers about posting photographs of themselves on social networking sites such as Facebook after a young woman was allegedly murdered by an Internet “friend.”
Young people should ensure only people they know can see their pictures and personal details such as their date of birth, school and address, Detective Superintendent Peter Crawford said.
“I can see no reason why you would want to have a photograph of a teenager or a young child accessible to anybody who wants to look at it on the Internet,” Queensland-based Crawford said yesterday. “It’s not just the issue of the photograph. If someone is prepared to put their photograph, then they are generally also putting a lot of other information about themselves on the Internet.”
The warning comes after a Sydney man was last week charged with murder after allegedly creating a bogus identity on Facebook and using it to lure 18-year-old Nona Belomesoff to an isolated bushland area.
Photos of Belomesoff taken from her profile have been splashed across Australian newspapers, prompting New South Wales police to warn that too much online data is readily available to the public.
Crawford, who works on a child safety and sexual crime group, said young people were exposing themselves to unnecessary risk by having open profiles.
“We’ve seen predators in the past who have looked on these sites and found information about particular individuals and have even gone to places where they know these children are going to be — for example their training for sport after school,” he said. “The big message for people is ... don’t just assume that people are who they say they are when you are communicating online.”
The warning follows criticism of Facebook in the US and Europe over new features, including the ability for partner Web sites to incorporate Facebook data, that detractors say compromise the privacy of its more than 400 million members.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was