MYSPACE IN US GOVT-URGED CRACKDOWN ON CHILD SEX ABUSERS
January 17th 2008 00:24
AFP reports that social networking site MySpace and US prosecutors have reached an agreement on child protection measures to help prevent child sexual abusers and others from misusing the site.
MySpace and top US state attorneys on Monday announced a pact to make the social networking website and its rivals safer for children. MySpace agreed to develop safety enhancements that include letting parents submit children's e-mail addresses to prevent profiles from being created using them, and to respond within 72 hours to complaints of inappropriate content.
MySpace will create and head an Internet Safety Technical Task Force with a mission to find ways to better check ages and identities of those making profiles on social networking websites, according to the agreement.
MediaDailyNews said some aspects of this agreement will be very difficult to implement. “What's more, they raise significant First Amendment concerns. Much of the pact is centered on keeping people younger than 14 off the site and limiting the ability of other teens to make their profiles public.
“As a legal matter, teens have a constitutional right to express themselves. While MySpace is a private company and can presumably ban children from the site, state attorneys general are government actors and should think twice before pressuring social networking sites to start banning people from participating.
TechCrunch reports that the “agreement between MySpace and nearly all the (US) states attorneys general to bulk up protections against sexual predators will no doubt have spill over effects on other social networks as well. No social network can afford to look like it is lagging in this area and will do whatever it can to be at par with emerging industry norms in this area.
“Facebook has always created an inhospitable environment for predators by limiting access to users’ personal information based on real-world social connections. We have led the way in our partnership with the New York Attorney General and continue our involvement with the Attorneys General of all states and other law enforcement agencies to keep children safe from those who would do them harm. We are happy to work further with the states to develop and deploy strategies to protect kids online.”
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