Facebook's unsexy hot-or-not problem

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Friday, 10 June 2011 13:10

Your IT - Home IT

Small groups of Australian Facebook users have taken to 'sex-rating' people and their sexual performances, sparking community outrage and police warnings, in what is seemingly a sad sequel to the recent Brocial Network scandal.

Some Facebook users think it's a cool idea to rate the sexual performance of their partners in a public forum, and clearly hadn't counted on community outrage and police warnings to stop the crude behaviour.

Allegations of untruths being published in these ratings have also naturally abounded, as those besmirched in the ratings system are likewise outraged at being rated.

While various small groups in the Australian states of Queensland and Victoria have been following this trend, the outrage has seen the sites come down, with some popping up again despite the valid complaints over their existence.

Australia's 'Daily Mercury' publication reports on such pages in existence in the Queensland city of Mackay, with 'several well-known petty criminals and prominent sports players' having befriended such a Mackay-based page, with police now warning against their creation.

The publication notes that it hasn't given the page a direct link because of the offensive nature of the ratings within, with readers contacting the publication to express their disgust at the ratings pages and the 'pathetic' nature of the people involved.

There was also the claim that some of the people being rated were just 'kids', which is an additional worry and undoubtedly something the police will be closely investigating. 

A Mackay police officer, Acting Sgt Angela Warcon is quoted by the paper as noting that those involved in the pages could face prosecution, stating that: 'Under the Telecommunications Act you can be prosecuted. Unfortunately people just don't understand that once it's out there in public it's no longer private.'

Continued on page two, please read on!