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http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2134200,00.html
MySpace finds 29,000 sex offenders on its site
Associated Press
Wednesday July 25, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
MySpace.com has found more than 29,000 registered sex offenders with profiles on its website, more than four times the number cited by the company two months ago.
The figure was released by the attorney general of North Carolina, one of several US states whose officials have been pressing the popular social networking site, owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, to provide data on how many registered sex offenders are using it and where they live.
MySpace initially withheld the information citing federal privacy laws, but the company began sharing the information in May after the states filed formal legal requests.
At the time, MySpace said it had already used a database it helped create to remove the profiles of around 7,000 sex offenders out of a total of about 180m profiles on the site.
"I'm absolutely astonished and appalled because the number has grown so exponentially over so short of time with no explanation," said General Richard Blumenthal, the attorney general of Connecticut, who has also pressed the company for sex offender data.
MySpace declined to comment on the figure but its chief security officer, Hemanshu Nigam, said in a statement: "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."
North Carolina is considering bringing in a law that would require children to receive parental permission before creating social networking profiles, and require the websites to verify the parents' identity and age.
A Virginia man pleaded guilty this week to kidnapping and soliciting a 14-year-old girl he met on the site.
Advocates for internet companies and privacy campaigners have testified against the proposed restrictions, saying they would be deemed unconstitutional for prohibiting free speech and impeding interstate commerce.
MySpace finds 29,000 sex offenders on its site
Associated Press
Wednesday July 25, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
MySpace.com has found more than 29,000 registered sex offenders with profiles on its website, more than four times the number cited by the company two months ago.
The figure was released by the attorney general of North Carolina, one of several US states whose officials have been pressing the popular social networking site, owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, to provide data on how many registered sex offenders are using it and where they live.
MySpace initially withheld the information citing federal privacy laws, but the company began sharing the information in May after the states filed formal legal requests.
At the time, MySpace said it had already used a database it helped create to remove the profiles of around 7,000 sex offenders out of a total of about 180m profiles on the site.
"I'm absolutely astonished and appalled because the number has grown so exponentially over so short of time with no explanation," said General Richard Blumenthal, the attorney general of Connecticut, who has also pressed the company for sex offender data.
MySpace declined to comment on the figure but its chief security officer, Hemanshu Nigam, said in a statement: "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."
North Carolina is considering bringing in a law that would require children to receive parental permission before creating social networking profiles, and require the websites to verify the parents' identity and age.
A Virginia man pleaded guilty this week to kidnapping and soliciting a 14-year-old girl he met on the site.
Advocates for internet companies and privacy campaigners have testified against the proposed restrictions, saying they would be deemed unconstitutional for prohibiting free speech and impeding interstate commerce.
