Facebook threatens Daily Mail with legal action over claims

According to an article in today's Guardian, social networking site Facebook is considering taking legal action against the Daily Mail following allegations the paper made about the dangers faced by youngsters using the site.

An article published on the Mail's website on Wednesday, which was subsequently edited, claimed that any fourteen year-old girl who signed up to the site was likely to be approached 'within seconds' by predatory older men. 

The author of the piece, Mark Williams-Thomas, has since stated that his piece, which was headlined 'I posed as a girl of 14 on Facebook.  What followed will sicken you,' misquoted him, and that he actually used a different, as yet unnamed, site for his research.

Criticism

Facebook came under criticism earlier this week following the conviction of a murderer who first approached his victim using the site, but it is understood to be angry about the allegations published by the Mail.  In particular, Facebook staff were furious that moderators on the Mail's forums, who blocked all of their attempts to post a reply allowed over 300 comments through.

There's as yet no news on just which site the Mail's reporter was using when he encountered such disturbing behaviour.

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