Facebook is increasingly becoming a player in Washington, D.C., and not just because of social media’s influence on politics. MarketWatch reported Wednesday that Facebook spent $1.4 million on lobbying in the fiscal fourth quarter — a 314 percent increase from what it sent to politicians during the same time period in 2011.
Lisa Raphael (left), the social media producer at Katie Couric's daytime talk show Katie, is one of our featured speakers in Mediabistro's upcoming Social Media Marketing Boot Camp, an online event and workshop starting June 6, 2013. Lisa will share a case study on how the hit show uses Twitter to build interest and buzz around upcoming segments. Learn more about our our twelve event speakers and register here. 
A change in the Child Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) means that children under the age of 13 can be shown ads targeted toward them when they’re online. This could lead to Facebook lowering its age of admission.
Facebook submitted a filing to the Federal Trade Commission seeking clarification on whether the social network and other websites will be able to show first-party advertising to children if the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) is updated by the agency.
Facebook has turned down an invitation to appear at a December 14 congressional briefing on teen privacy, where the company were asked to discuss the company’s recent settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.
Almost nine out of every teenagers have behaved cruelly toward others on social networks.
Okay, maybe it’s not as bad as parents buying beer for their kids under age 21 or cigarettes for those under 18, but Microsoft Research Senior Researcher Danah Boyd examined why so many parents allow their children under the Facebook age limit of 13 to join the social network.
Facebook’s current age minimum doesn’t appear to be working — 7.5 million kids under 13 are using the site anyway. So the company wants to figure out how to let them on to the social network in a way that’s honest and compliant with the law.
