- Details
- Published: 03 August 2016
Dear Facebook,
We are writing to you as an international, interdisciplinary and collaborative group of social media advocates that are invested in the issue of elder abuse prevention. We call ourselves the “Elder Justice League.” Our mission is to strengthen the elder justice movement by presenting a united front that is dedicated to building awareness of elder abuse across social media platforms.
The Elder Justice League is contacting you because recently we have all received a large number of messages from our growing community of stakeholders, regarding graphic and inappropriate images/ videos that portray elder abuse on your site. Here is just one example: http://bit.ly/29VQASB. In response to requests to take down the above-mentioned content, your site has claimed it cannot remove these posts because they “do not violate the Facebook Community Standards and Content Policies.” While we understand that your organization seeks to find the right balance between enabling free expression and promoting a safe environment and respectful experience, we were troubled by this response and want to take this opportunity to start the discussion with you about what we feel is an important contribution Facebook can make towards the elder justice movement.
Given your enormous user base, with wide variances in age and cultural values, your social platform is in a uniquely strong position to publicly recognize the impact elder abuse has on the quality of life and human rights of a vulnerable demographic and in turn educate the community about this devastating and complex issue. Elder Abuse is a crime and as such is subject to legal actions and punishments. Few people understand the magnitude and impact of this crime. Elder abuse can affect people of all ethnic backgrounds and social status, men and women in all types of relationships. Elder abuse can occur in both institutional and community settings and manifests in such forms as physical, psychological, financial, sexual and neglect. Research indicates that 1 in 10 American elders is affected by abuse1, but only 1 in 23 cases are reported2. This means that very few seniors who have been abused actually get the help they need. Educating seniors themselves, professionals, caregivers, and the public on elder abuse is critical to its prevention. Elder abuse is preventable and everyone can play a role. We owe it to our nation’s elderly population to ensure privacy and protection from abuse.
Elder Abuse on social media is on the rise and with such a wide and active user base, Facebook is the ideal platform to raise public awareness and knowledge on a global level. It has recently been uncovered that workers in nursing homes and other long-term care settings are using Snapchat and other social media platforms to share inappropriate and unauthorized photos of elderly residents. NPR recently released a story on this: http://n.pr/29ACFhN. United States Senator for Iowa, Chuck Grassley, is taking action on this issue and has written to the CEO of Snapchat to address his concerns about elder abuse on this platform: http://bit.ly/2axwhgo. These incidents are deeply disturbing to us and remind us that as the popularity of social media grows, threats to privacy rights increase, especially among the most vulnerable. We would like to know more about what Facebook is doing to take action on this issue and would like to share our suggestions. We believe that Facebook could better identify forms of elder abuse and raise awareness by: 1) Addressing elder abuse in the Facebook Community Standards and 2) Including elder abuse as an option in the reporting function for a Facebook post. We feel these actions would greatly empower the elder justice movement and promote public awareness in a powerful way.
Facebook has incredible potential to empower communities with knowledge and awareness, to make a true difference in the lives of seniors. We hope your team continues to provide an open platform to discover what’s going on in the world, to share and express what matters, and to give a voice to the most vulnerable. If you would like to learn more about our group, please visit http://bit.ly/1PQvi2s. We look forward to hearing from you and continuing this important discussion.
Sincerely,
The Elder Justice League:
Ageless Alliance
Canadian Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse
Elder Abuse Ontario
Institute on Aging
National Adult Protective Services Association
National Center on Elder Abuse
Network for Victim Recovery of DC
NYC Elder Abuse Center
Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders
Elder Justice League Point of Contact:
Ana Poblet-Kouttjie, MPH
National Center on Elder Abuse
(626) 457-6621
Are you concerned about the need for social media policies to protect older persons' privacy and dignity online? Feel free to share this letter widely, or use it as an inspiration to contact other social media platforms and request they take similar actions.
1- Acierno R., Hernandez, M.A., Amstadter A.B., Resnick H.S., Steve K., Muzzy W., & Kilpatrick D.G. (2010). Prevalence and correlates of emotional, physical, sexual, and financial abuse and potential neglect in the united states: the national elder mistreatment study. American Journal of Public Health 100(2), 292–297. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2009.163089
2- Lifespan of Greater Rochester, Inc., Weill Cornell Medical Center of Cornell University, & New York City Department for the Aging. (2011). Under the Radar: New York State Elder Abuse Prevalence Study.
