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Massachusetts Puts Heat on MySpace.com

May 5, 2006

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The state of Massachusetts is demanding that MySpace.com, the popular social networking site, make dramatic changes to its web site to ensure the safety of minors.

In a letter to company officials, state Attorney General TomReilly demanded that MySpace increase its minimum user age from 14 to 18 after an investigation he launched in March 2006 revealed that MySpace does not have sufficient safeguards in place to protect children from sexually explicit and other inappropriate content.

Reilly's investigation also raised concerns that potential child predators use MySpace to locate and communicate with possible victims and that MySpace is also used to post violent images or content to bully or threaten children.

"MySpace allows 14 and 15 year-olds to register as members of its 'community' and claims to be able to protect their safety," Reilly said. "Our investigation revealed that these measures are not effective and do not protect children from being exposed to inappropriate content they just shouldn't see."

Reilly called on MySpace to improve the safety and security of its site by:

• Instituting an age and identity verification system;
• Equipping every MySpace page with a "Report Inappropriate Content" link;
• Responding to all reports of inappropriate content within 24 hours;
• Increasing significantly the number of employees who review images and content on the MySpace website;
• Implementing filtering technology that effectively blocks sexually explicit or violent images;
• Immediately deleting any profiles that violate MySpace's Terms of Use Agreement and permanently banning those members from using the site;
• Immediately removing all advertisements and other MySpace sponsored content that are inappropriate for children; and
• Offering free, downloadable software that allows parents to block use of MySpace.

Reilly said his staff met with MySpace last month to discuss their concerns with how the website operated.

Although MySpace maintains that only members under the age of 18 can view the profiles of members ages 14-15 years old, AG Reilly's investigation found that MySpace does not have any system in place to verify its members' ages.

As a result, an adult can register as a minor member and use that profile to seek access to the profiles of countless underage members.

Reilly said investigators were able to register as minors 14 and 15 years old. The investigators were then able to gain access to numerous profiles of children between the ages of 14 and 17 years old.

The investigators also discovered that any user, regardless of age, can browse the MySpace website and find forums where children are posting messages. In these various forums, adults can not only view the child's picture, age, and hometown, but they can also communicate with the child.

Reilly criticized MySpace's own content on its website for contributing to the exposure of children to inappropriate content and communications.

For example, the investigation revealed that MySpace regularly advertises 18+ "Intimate Dating" sites in its "High School" forums. During the investigation, MySpace's own search parameters allowed 14 and 15 year olds to search the site for "swingers" or designate themselves as "smokers" or "drinkers" in their user profiles.

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