noteworthy wrote:

It is worth looking at the full report, or at least the executive summary. As with Brad Stone's recent iTunes story, he seems to be reading a different report.

Thanks for all of this detail. Getting a straight story out of a reporter is usually impossible.

Do you think Stone's article accurately reflects the tone of the report and the context in which "moral panic" is referenced?

Well, I read the executive summary. It certainly doesn't lend to the conclusion that "there really is not a significant problem" with child predation. It says child predation "remains a concern."

Based on your analysis, its clear that the report did not "compare such fears to a “moral panic”, but it did seem to indicate that the concerns had been overemphasised. Perhaps its merely a choice of wording.

The report did conclude that bullying and harassment were more serious problems and that most of the minors who got wrapped up in relationships with adults were not merely the hapless victims of cunning manipulation but rather were troubled teens who mostly knew what they were doing, and that the risks they faced were not significantly increased because of the fact that they used the Internet. In fact, the observation that "the psychosocial makeup of and family dynamics surrounding particular minors are better predictors of risk than the use of specific media or technologies" suggests an approach to the problem which has absolutely nothing to do with the Internet, which makes a hell of a lot of sense, frankly.

While Brad Stone may have gone too far in his characterization of this report, I don't think the content of this report is going to satisfy politicians who are promoting themselves by going after social networks.

Certainly Mr. Blumenthal has read the executive summary:

“Children are solicited every day online,” Mr. Blumenthal said. “Some fall prey, and the results are tragic. That harsh reality defies the statistical academic research underlying the report.”

RE: Report Finds Online Threats to Children Overblown