Prosecutors in New York state are investigating whether social networking Web site Facebook is living up to its word when it comes to protecting young Internet users from sexual predators.
New York State attorney general Andrew Cuomo announced Monday that he sent Facebook a subpoena ordering the California-based firm to turn over documents as part of a probe into "significant defects" in safety controls.
"My office is concerned that Facebook's promise of a safe Web site is not consistent with its performance in policing its site and responding to complaints," Cuomo said in a release. "Parents have a right to know what their children will encounter on a Web site that is aggressively marketed as safe."
A court-issued subpoena commands Facebook to give Cuomo copies of records of complaints regarding adults soliciting underage users for sex or children getting access to pornography at the Web site.
Facebook must also give Cuomo copies of its policies and public claims regarding keeping children safe at the Web site, according to the subpoena.
"Facebook has led the industry in giving people tools to control the information they share and with whom they choose to share it," Facebook spokeswoman Brandee Barker said. "User privacy has always been a top priority for the company."
Cuomo said that he got the subpoena after investigators in his office pretended to be children in Facebook profiles and were "repeatedly solicited" by adults seeking sex.
Undercover investigators easily accessed pornographic pictures and videos from the Web site, according to Cuomo. Facebook ignored the bulk of complaints made by undercover agents in their roles as children, according to Cuomo.
Facebook's sex predator safeguards questioned
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