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MySpace Deletes More Sex Offenders

Rupert Murdoch's Site Deletes 29,000 More Potential Predators

By Mark Huffman
ConsumerAffairs.com

July 25, 2007

• New York Pressures Social Networking Sites For More Screening • Excessive Internet Use Linked to Depression • Survey Reveals Dwindling Confidence In Social Networking Security • New York Sweeps 3,500 Sex Offenders Off MySpace, Facebook • 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 Complaints • Facebook Complaints

Rupert Murdoch's MySpace.com says there were a lot more sex offenders lurking within its membership roles than it first reported.

The site – popular with teens but feared by parents – says it has deleted 29,000 members it found to be convicted sex offenders.

Initially, the company said it found only 7,000 members who had been convicted of sex crimes.

MySpace is owned by Murdoch's News Corporation, which owns the New York Post, Fox Television and is currently attempting to get control of The Wall Street Journal.

A number of state attorneys general first highlighted the issue, pressuring MySpace to take stronger measures to protect younger users from pedophiles.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal first opened a probe of the Web site in 2006 after state police said that as many as seven teenage Connecticut girls had been sexually assaulted by men they met through MySpace.com. The girls said they were fondled or had sex with men who turned out to be older than they claimed.

Police say one man traveled 1,000 miles to prey on one of the girls he found through the site.

Other state investigations followed. In May, under pressure from state officials nationwide, MySpace used a database of 600,000 sex offenders to cull its membership ranks.

There was no explanation for the discovery of additional sex offenders among MySpace members, or how there were missed in the first sweep. The company, however, tried to put a positive spin on this latest development.

“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,” MySpace Chief Security Officer Hemanshu Nigam said in a statement.

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.

“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.”

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

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.

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