Facebook has more than half a billion users. Recently some users have reported receiving unsolicited messages from other users containing nude and sexually explicit pictures.
Dean Lancaster contacted NewsChannel 15 to say both he and his wife had received many of them.
Lancaster said, "We recently received some notifications and friend requests from people with normal sounding names, but when you open the message in our email accounts, they would have profile pictures with some explicit nudity. It's quite alarming."
Dean says it's alarming because he and his wife have children at home who have their own accounts. He doesn't want them seeing the graphic pictures.
NewsChannel 15's Tim McGinnis emailed Facebook about the problem.
According to their email reply, "Our policies prohibit any pornographic material on the site, whether its featured in profile pictures or elsewhere."
Dean Lancaster says he and his wife will continue using Facebook for now, but that could change if they keep receiving the explicit messages.
More information from Facebook:
Our policies prohibit any pornographic material on the site, whether its featured in profile pictures or elsewhere.
Facebook has always been based on a real name culture. This leads to greater accountability and a safer and more trusted environment for our users. It's a violation of our policies to use a fake name or operate under a false identity, and we encourage people to report anyone they think is doing this, either through the report links we provide on the site or through the contact forms in our Help Center. We have a dedicated User Operations team that reviews these reports and takes action as necessary.
We also have technical systems in place to flag and block potential fakes based on name and anomalous site activity. Users who send lots of messages to non-friends, for example, or whose friend requests are rejected at a high rate, are marked as suspect. We've built extensive greylists that prevent users from signing up with names commonly associated with fake accounts. We've even received some criticism in the past for making these systems too strict (some people with unusual names have to contact us before they can sign up). There's always room for improvement, which is why we have a team of security experts and site integrity engineers working on these systems and developing new ones.
Facebook is based on real people making real-world connections and people on Facebook will get the most value out of the site by using their real identity. We will consider removing a profile if we determine that it is not authentic and false information is being communicated on it. Facebook's privacy tools also provide greater control over the information shared. Here are some tips for getting you started:
You have control over your information and can revisit your settings at any time.
Make available to everyone a limited set of information that helps people find and connect with you, information like "About Me" and where you work or go to school.
For more sensitive information, like photos and videos in which you've been tagged and your phone number, we recommend a more restrictive setting.
As always, you can block specific users, which prevents them from seeing any of your information or contacting you on Facebook. No matter what section you choose, you'll see an identical setting selector with three basic levels of privacy: Friends, Friends of Friends and Everyone.
You'll also be able to customize your settings based on certain friends and friend lists - a feature that you can use to build lists of individuals you share certain items with - friends, co-workers, family, etc. As an added layer of protection, Facebook requires you first enter your Facebook username and password before changing any settings.
Use Facebook's tool that enables you to see how your profile appears to others.
