Kowtowing to Facebook?

That's the question to ask the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Facebook was sued in 2011 by parents who objected to the company using photographs of their children without their consent. 

Here's how Facebook works: If a user “likes” a company that advertises on Facebook, or if she “checks in” (identifies her location) at a restaurant, or uses an application associated with that company, her image may appear next to an ad for the business on Facebook, with text suggesting that she endorses that business. It is unlikely the children or the parents will know it’s going to happen until after it has occurred. 

The Appeals Court 'settled' the suit by telling Facebook to include new language in its terms of service stating that users under age 18 “represent” that their parents consented to the use of the children’s names and images in advertising. The settlement does not require Facebook to obtain consent from the parents. How this decision addresses the issue is a mystery to my non-lawyerly mind. Further, the decision violates the law in seven states.

The settlement did involve Facebook paying some agencies. One, the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC), refused the $290,000 it was offered because it opposes the agreement as the settlement’s supposed protections for minors were “hollow” and “meaningless.”