NASHVILLE, Tenn. (SUBMITTED) -- The Attorneys General of 49 states and the District of Columbia today announced that Facebook has agreed to make changes to its social networking website to better protect children from predators and inappropriate content. Facebook, in an agreement similar to one that MySpace reached in January with these Attorneys General, will join the task force headed by MySpace which will explore and develop age and identity verification software for social networking sites.

"Agreements like the one reached today with Facebook and previously with MySpace help parents protect children and educate them about Internet safety,"Attorney General Cooper said.

Facebook has agreed to:
*Include automatic warning messages when a child is in danger of giving personal information to an unknown adult;
*Restrict the ability of users to change their listed ages;
*Act quicker to remove inappropriate content and groups from the site; and
*Require third party vendors to adhere to Facebook's safety and privacy guidelines.

For example, the first time a Facebook user wants to change his or her age, website staff will review the user's profile to determine whether the change is appropriate.

In addition, companies offering Facebook users services -- called "widgets" -- will now have to implement and enforce Facebook's safety and privacy guidelines. Facebook also has agreed to maintain a list of pornographic websites and regularly sever any links to such sites. It will remove groups for incest, pedophilia, cyberbullying and other violations of the site's terms of services, as well as expel any violators from the site.

Facebook will more prominently display safety tips and require users under 18 to affirm they have read Facebook's safety tips when they sign up.

"Parents need to use the tools that this agreement gives them to get involved with their children and make sure they are using the Internet the right way," added Mary Clement, the Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs. Consumers may file a complaint by contacting the Division of Consumer Affairs at http://www.state.tn.us/consumer/ or by calling (615) 741-4737 or (toll-free in Tennessee) 1-800-342-8385.

(Information submitted by the Tennessee Office of the Attorney General.)