Paedophilia Fears Could Pull The plug On MySpace

Jan 23, 2006
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The networking website MySpace could be forced to close in the U.S. after a study found as many as 10,000 paedophiles are using it to target children.
Washington has given the firm two weeks to hand over a list of the offenders' names and addresses or face being shut down.

The study - commissioned by MySpace itself - followed reports that hundreds of sex abuse and rape cases last year involved attackers who trawled the website's 100million users for potential victims.
The report has not yet been published. But its contents were leaked by a whistleblower working for the company.
Attorneys general in all 50 U.S. states are backing moves to clamp down on the website.

Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut's attorney general, said: "We're demanding MySpace tell us the number of convicted sex offenders, their names, and where they live. "This mounting, graphic evidence shows the need for age verification, parental permission and a higher minimum threshold at 16, as we have repeatedly requested.



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The networking website MySpace could be forced to close in the U.S. after a study found as many as 10,000 paedophiles are using it to target children.
Washington has given the firm two weeks to hand over a list of the offenders' names and addresses or face being shut down.

The study - commissioned by MySpace itself - followed reports that hundreds of sex abuse and rape cases last year involved attackers who trawled the website's 100million users for potential victims.
The report has not yet been published. But its contents were leaked by a whistleblower working for the company.
Attorneys general in all 50 U.S. states are backing moves to clamp down on the website.

Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut's attorney general, said: "We're demanding MySpace tell us the number of convicted sex offenders, their names, and where they live. "This mounting, graphic evidence shows the need for age verification, parental permission and a higher minimum threshold at 16, as we have repeatedly requested.
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And not before time. Thank you for sharing the article. :smile:
 
I think myspace should hand over the requested information, but I think it's unfair to blame myspace or pull the plug on them. Pervs will find targets if they want to-whether it's through the internet, or the playground or whatever.

I think parents need to be more diligent in watching what their children are doing online. After all, we all get those creepy messages online. Most of us have the common sense not to respond. Parents need to teach their children to ignore that stuff, or to talk to them about the sickos out there. I've seen some of my coworkers' & friends' children's profile and my God their parents have no clue what they're doing online or in real life.
 
^internet is anonymous- the sickos can act like children online- they are predators and know how to get what they want. the internet, and sites like myspace, just make it easier- like shooting monkeys in a barrel. also, i feel that the internet has allowed these sickos to ban together- find other like-minded individuals, and that makes them feel less of an 'outsider/freak', therefor, more likely to act on impulses that may otherwise have stayed in check.
 
Kids have an option of a private profile. They're not dumb. If they give their permission to a stranger, any type of regulation is useless.

Anything that attracts kids is filled with pedophiles. For example, there is this online game called maplestory aka pedophile galore (known by educators who block this page in schools). This game has options to upgrade your character with a puppy or cool clothes, but they cost money. Of course, these pedophiles will buy them and give it to kids on there and gain their attention.

At least myspace has many safety features already.
 
^internet is anonymous- the sickos can act like children online- they are predators and know how to get what they want. the internet, and sites like myspace, just make it easier- like shooting monkeys in a barrel. also, i feel that the internet has allowed these sickos to ban together- find other like-minded individuals, and that makes them feel less of an 'outsider/freak', therefor, more likely to act on impulses that may otherwise have stayed in check.

Well, in that case, we should shut down the internet!

It's not Myspace's job to prevent pedophilia. It's a parent's job to monitor their children's activities and actually parent them so that they don't fall prey to a pedo's tactics. There will always be that unlucky kid that will fall prey, but you can't punish the millions of normal people simply cause there are a few sickos out there. It's not my fault 15 year olds are posting pics of themselves in bikinis or suggestive poses, nor is it Myspace's fault. They have age verification set up. If they lie about their age, what can you do?

I'd be curious to see if acts of pedophilia have increased in the past few years. I'll go research that.

Also, how does Myspace have names of convicted sex offenders? It's not something you'd add to your profile. "Interests: Young children". Do you have more on that and what they mean?
 
Myspace has your email information at registration. Companies like yahoo willingly give the birthdays and real names of the people so myspace can verify age. Maybe that's how they got the sex-offender information.
 
thanks for posting! that is the best news i have heard all day.

I am soooo glad to hear this. I hate myspace. I think I wrote about the scare we had with our daughter about two years ago with a man who targeted her there. It was EXTREMELY scary. The frustrating thing for many parents with regard to myspace is that they cannot contact administration there and get help and also cannot get access to their child's page if they've rendered it private. Many parents have to install spyware on their computer to capture the password. Also it is hard to monitor computer usage these days because kids have access to the internet and computers at school.
 
This is a good initial step to make the internet more safe...but the internet will never be a safe place, no matter how much you try to regulate it. There will always be a way for these sickos to get their "fix".
 
^internet is anonymous- the sickos can act like children online- they are predators and know how to get what they want. the internet, and sites like myspace, just make it easier- like shooting monkeys in a barrel. also, i feel that the internet has allowed these sickos to ban together- find other like-minded individuals, and that makes them feel less of an 'outsider/freak', therefor, more likely to act on impulses that may otherwise have stayed in check.


So is the local neighborhood park. You can't stop a stranger from staring at your kid from standing behind a tree and beating off as your child plays. Should we shut down all public parks too?

I have a myspace, a facebook, a Live Journal and various other internet things, and not in all of my 26 years have I been attacked or whatever by an internet predator.

To me, there's something wrong with the child that's willing to blindly meet someone on the internet. It's the parents job to smack some common sense into that child. Or to say "Hey, if you don't unlock your myspace profile or show it to me whenever I ask, I'm disconnecting the internet."
 
Well, in that case, we should shut down the internet!

It's not Myspace's job to prevent pedophilia. It's a parent's job to monitor their children's activities and actually parent them so that they don't fall prey to a pedo's tactics. There will always be that unlucky kid that will fall prey, but you can't punish the millions of normal people simply cause there are a few sickos out there. It's not my fault 15 year olds are posting pics of themselves in bikinis or suggestive poses, nor is it Myspace's fault. They have age verification set up. If they lie about their age, what can you do?

I'd be curious to see if acts of pedophilia have increased in the past few years. I'll go research that.

Also, how does Myspace have names of convicted sex offenders? It's not something you'd add to your profile. "Interests: Young children". Do you have more on that and what they mean?

I agree with you Charles!!!
Where are the parents in all this monitoring there children!!!
 
To me, there's something wrong with the child that's willing to blindly meet someone on the internet. It's the parents job to smack some common sense into that child. Or to say "Hey, if you don't unlock your myspace profile or show it to me whenever I ask, I'm disconnecting the internet."

We thought the same thing too, until it happened to us.
 
i never said that myspace, the internet, or parks should be shut down. all i said was that there are places, like myspace, on the internet that make it alot easier for creeps to track down children. creeps have been going after kids forever- the interent is just a newer arena, and one that is often not policed well.

also, i have no idea as to how myspace would know who is a pedophile, as i'm sure they don't volunteer that information.