MySpace Cleans Up Sex Offenders

In July, MySpace decided to to a little house cleaning. MySpace deleted the accounts that had been created by registered sex offenders. Apparently there were over 29,000 registered sex offenders that had created profiles. A figure 4 times more than the original estimate offered by MySpace. This number reflects the sex offenders that signed up using their real names. The number is expected to be higher as individuals may have used fake names or other identies.

A July 24th release from North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper proposes 6 changes in social networking sites to better protect our children from sexual predators. As always, parents are strongly encouraged to police their children's Internet activities but the rules proposed in this new release would require parents to authorize an account before a child would be able to post. It would also allow parents to see what their children are posting.

MySpace does not want to see its younger user base threatened, but also resists such verification measures likely because they could push current and potential users away from MySpace to competing websites. I wonder how they will feel when legal action is brought against them like what happened to the tobacco companies?

For more information on how to keep your kids safe on the Internet, visit some of these sites:

Internetchildsafety.net
ProtectKids.org
SafeKids.com
The FBI's Safe Kids Guidelines
LoveOurChildrenusa.org
CyberPatrol.com
NetNanny.com
CyberAngels.org
Microsoft's Family Internet Safety Guidelines
WiredSafety.org

There are many more available by looking through the Child Safety and Internet Safety for Kids Google Directories.