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MySpace Deletes Thousands Of Sex Offenders

Action Follows Pressure by State Attorneys General

By Mark Huffman
ConsumerAffairs.com

May 16, 2007

• Suit Says Facebook Scammed Gamers Out of Information, Cash • Giving Away Privacy By Sharing Online? • Facebook Turns Off Beacon • Employers Using Social Networking Sites To Research Job Candidates • Experts Worry About Web's Impact On Teens • Researchers Claim Link Between Video Games and Violence • Study Links Sexual Content on TV to Teen Pregnancy • Facebook Agrees to Upgrade Safety Measures • Hanna Montana Photo Flap Part of a Trend • New Jersey Investigating College Gossip Site • No Easy Remedy for Imposter Postings on Social Networking Sites • Social Networking Sites Not the Biggest Danger for Teens? • Keeping Teens Safe Online • MySpace Agrees To Toughen Security For Young Users • MySpace Harassment Case Takes Odd Turn • Texas Sues Kids' Web Sites • States Keep the Heat on Facebook, MySpace • Texas Rounds Up 14 Sex Offenders on MySpace • New Jersey Subpoenas Facebook • Predator Who Used MySpace Gets Seven-Year Sentence • Facebook Has 'A Long Way to Go,' Investigators Say • Cuomo Charges Facebook Ignores Sexual Predators • MySpace Deletes More Sex Offenders • New Jersey Targets Sex Offenders With MySpace Profiles • States To Get MySpace Sex Offender Data • MySpace Deletes Thousands Of Sex Offenders • States Press MySpace For Data On Sex Offenders • Survey Finds Teen Behaviors Linked with Victimization • New MySpace Security Measures May Be Too Late • MySpace Builds Database to Target Predators • Pittsburgh Man Arrested in MySpace Sex Case • New Scam Targets MySpace Users • States Cracking Down on Dating Sites • MySpace Glitch Gives Hackers Teen Data • FTC "Concerned" About MySpace & Other Networking Sites • Texas Teen Sues MySpace for $30 Million • MySpace Debuts $1.99 Video Downloads • Massachusetts Puts Heat on MySpace.com • MySpace Names Security Czar • Connecticut Asks MySpace to Provide Blocking Software to Parents • What's Inside MySpace.com? • Connecticut Opens MySpace.Com Probe --- • MySpace Complaints • Facebook Complaints

After receiving a stiff letter from several state attorneys general, the popular social networking Web site MySpace.com says it has removed thousands of convicted sex offenders from its membership rolls.

The company said it was taking the action to protect young users from sexual predators.

At the same time, MySpace executives said they would not hand over information about the individuals who had been removed from the site without a warrant. To do so without a warrant, they said, would violate the Electronic Communications Privacy Act.

“We are doing everything short of breaking the law to ensure that the information about these predators gets to the proper authorities,” said MySpace security officer Hemanshu Nigam.

MySpace said it used a national database of 600,000 registered felons, convicted of sex-related crimes, to identify sexual predators within its membership. Parents and law enforcement officials have raised concerns about teenagers being exposed to sexual predators on the site.

MySpace.com faces lawsuits from several families who charge their daughters were sexually assaulted by MySpace members.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said it was "really staggering" that MySpace had not come forward with the information that it knew the identity of sex offenders registered with its site. The states are pressing the company to provide the names and states of all registered sex offenders with profiles on its social networking site.

AGs' Demands

In a letter to MySpace.com, the state attorneys general said they believe that data from Sentinel Tech Holdings, a company working with MySpace, indicate that thousands of known sex offenders may have been confirmed as MySpace members.

The letter asked the company to provide the names and states of all registered sex offenders with profiles on its social networking site.

“MySpace is a treasure trove of potential victims for child predators,” said North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper. “Sex offenders have no business being on this site, and we believe MySpace has a responsibility to get them off the site.”

The AGs said that besides spurring MySpace.com to act, they are hoping to warn parents about the dangers social networking sites present.

"I tell parents every day that MySpace is a dangerous place for teenagers," said Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden.

Cooper and Blumenthal are leading a group of attorneys general from 50 states and territories who have been pushing MySpace to do a better job protecting children from dangers on its site such as sexual predators and inappropriate content.

100 Incidents

In 2006 alone, the media reported almost 100 criminal incidents across the country involving adults who used MySpace to prey or attempt to prey on children.

In North Carolina, a former sheriff’s deputy was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2006 for molesting a 15-year-old Cary boy he met on MySpace. In 2006, the NC State Bureau of Investigation arrested a Boiling Spring Lakes police officer for raping a 14-year-old girl he lured through MySpace.

Both North Carolina and Connecticut and a handful of other states are currently pushing legislation that would require social networking sites including MySpace to get parents’ permission before letting children join.

Cooper is also pushing a measure that would make it a felony for convicted sex offenders to join social networking sites where children are members.

Virginia and Kentucky already require convicted sex offenders to register their email addresses and instant messenger accounts with authorities.

The letter was signed by attorneys general from Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

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