MySpace provided two state attorneys general the names of 90,000 registered sex offenders it had banned from its site in response to a subpoena.
The figure is 40,000 more than the amount previously acknowledged by MySpace, according to Attorney General Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, who along with Attorney General Roy Cooper of North Carolina are among officials pressing social networking sites to adopt more stringent safety measures.
“Almost 100,000 convicted sex offenders mixing with children on MySpace — shown by our subpoena — is absolutely appalling and totally unacceptable,” Mr. Blumenthal said in a statement. “For every one of them, there may be hundreds of others using false names and ages.”
Last year, MySpace, owned by News Corporation, and Facebook.com agreed to set security standards after the Web sites were criticized for not doing enough to protect minors from sexual predators lurking on social networking sites.
How many more of these offenders will pop up on the popular teen site? I am sure MySpace is moderating their site to ensure that if anyone violates their terms of use will be banned and reported. This is not going to be an easy task, and some offenders may slip under the radar.
“Net threat to minors less than feared”
– A long awaited report from the Internet Safety Technical Task Force concludes that children and teens are less vulnerable to sexual predation than many have feared.
The report also questions the efficacy and necessity of some commonly prescribed remedies designed to protect young people.
FULL REPORT pdf:
The task force was formed as a result of a joint agreement between MySpace and 49 state attorneys general.
http://cfcoklahoma.org/New_Site/index.php?option=com_fireboard&Itemid=0&func=view&id=628&catid=21#628
That is absolutely appalling. MySpace and all the social sites should be required to take serious action to protect the kids. And if they aren’t willing to step up to the plate with some serious security measures, they should be shut down.
Kelli
I agree with you and they need to be more proactive.