E.g., Patrick "Hotseattle" Naughton, former CTO of the Disney Internet Group.
Posted on 07/25/2007 3:41:15 AM PDT by Baladas
MySpace, the social networking website immensely popular with young people, has deleted the profiles of 29,000 convicted sex offenders.
The minimum age to register on MySpace is 14 — although users are free to provide whatever age they want This is more than four times the 7,000 the company said it had deleted in May, and marks a significant tightening of its defences against online predators, following criticism from US authorities.
All of those barred are thought to be based in the US.
The company, owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, said it hoped other social networking sites would follow its lead.
"We're pleased that we've successfully identified and removed registered sex offenders from our site and hope that other social networking sites follow our lead," said Hemanshu Nigam, MySpace's chief security officer.
advertisement The new total was released yesterday by two state attorney generals in the US who have been at the forefront of the campaign to protect children on the internet.
"The exploding epidemic of sex offender profiles on MySpace - 29,000 and counting - screams for action," said Richard Blumenthal, the Connecticut attorney general
A series of high-profile legal actions brought by the parents of teenagers abused by people they met on MySpace appear to have convinced the Los Angeles-based firm of the need for tighter restrictions.
Visitors to teen-oriented sites such as MySpace are encouraged to make new friends by exchanging messages and setting up their own personal pages.
Their rapid growth has raised concern on both sides of the Atlantic that they are far too open to exploitation by paedophiles and other sexual predators.
In Britain, the Home Office is considering ordering social networking sites to run adverts for the police so that younger users can report suspicious encounters.
Other options being considered include more stringent checks on age and identity. The minimum age to register on MySpace is 14 — although users are free to provide whatever age they want.
Last year, the service made it impossible for members aged 18 or older to contact 14- to 15-year-old members without knowing their email addresses.
The company is also developing software to allow parents to monitor their children's use of the site.
Better late than never.
Well that’ll teach them! (Not!)
I am getting sick and tied of that show were some reporter entraps potential sex offenders. But I was watching it for a few minutes the other day and it is amazing that even with the publicity of the show the number of idiots that show up to the “meet”. Some even said that they knew of the show and were some what troubled that the “meet” might be a setup, but still showed up.
Tells you which head they’re thinking with.
Of course, the demon possessed have never been known for their intelligence.
It's not entrapment unless they overwhelm your free will to commit the crime, nor if you were predisposed to commit the crime anyway.
I use the word entraps lightly, but that show is aggressive. I would imagine that the number of teenagers that fall for the crap is far lower than the idiots that show up. But still if they serve a few years in jail so much the better. I imagine a number of them will get straighten out.
Why are there 29,000 sex offenders who aren’t in jail, anyway?
Yea, and if Myspace can figure out that they are sex offenders, then why can’t the authorities?
I thought you could be anonymous on My space. Is that not true?
At any rate, the predators will just change their tactics. They aren’t going anywhere.
In a related story, the DU reports 29,000 new members...
They mean, 29,000 people that should have been executed or still in jail right?
Because they did their time and got out?
My guess is these are registered sex offenders. They're probably not the ones who haven't been caught yet. I was told that of those who turned up in the TV program mentioned on this thread, very few had prior convictions. If this is true, MySpace still isn't safe for unmonitored kids.
Maybe they did their time, and maybe they got a slap on the wrist by a court unwilling to enforce the law.
But either way, something’s gotta change so that these guys are in jail. If the problem is the law, then change it. If not, then go after the public authorities who let these guys off the hook.
You want to put them back in jail without their having committed another crime, did I understand you correctly?
E.g., Patrick "Hotseattle" Naughton, former CTO of the Disney Internet Group.
No. They need to change the law so that people who commit sex crimes don’t get out in the first place.
Fair enough. Thanks for the clarification.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.