MySpace has taken a stance against sex offenders, removing 90,000 of them from the social networking site, as demanded by law enforcement officials. The number is shocking, and opposes the results of a recent study, according to which the threat of sexual predators online is not as large in reality as it has been promoted by the media.
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal called it a shocking revelation that resulted from a subpoena previously sent to MySpace. Facebook was sent a similar one, however the results of that have not been revealed yet.
In mid-January this year, North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper and Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal have announced an agreement with MySpace to take the necessary steps to ensure children’s safety on the social networking site, which included the creation of a task force to explore and develop age and identity verification technology.
The plan also included allowing parents to submit their children’s email addresses so MySpace could prevent anyone using those addresses from setting up profiles, making the default setting Private for 16 and 17-year-olds, promising to respond within 72 hours to inappropriate content complaints and committing more staff and resources to review and classify photographs and discussion groups.
The agreement was the result of two years of discussions between law enforcement officials and social networking sites for creating a safe environment for children, away from sexual predators.
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said in a statement: This shocking revelation – resulting from our subpoena – provides compelling proof that social networking sites remain rife with sexual predators. Nearly 100,000 convicted sex offenders with MySpace profiles powerfully refutes the recent task force report – based on outdated and incomplete data – falsely downplaying the threat of predators on social networking sites.
He also added that his office will seek to identify the Connecticut offenders from MySpace’s list, and inform authorities so they can determine whether the offenders were in violation of their probation or release terms.
Blumenthal said he would continue the fight against online predators, adding that he would continue to support the age and identification verification as a vital method of protecting children from inappropriate content and from predators, despite resistance from the social networking industry.
North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper said MySpace’s findings confirm what law enforcement representatives already knew, that predators use social networking sites to prey on children. In addition to that, the report also casts doubt on parts of a recent report according to which online networking sites are safer than portrayed by the media.
The final report from the Internet Safety Technical Task Force on online child safety released in January this year revealed that although still exposed to threats such as sexual predators, bullying or harassment, things have improved statistically. Many rejected this report, arguing that it has based its findings on data that is no longer relevant.
