March 11, 2009

NC- N.C. officials: 2,116 of state's sex offenders found on MySpace

So what? Of all the RSOs kicked off these social networking websites, none of the AGs found them doing anything wrong. Yes a few violated parole or probation but that is not a new sex crime, it is a technical violation. The AGs want the public to believe there is wrongdoing going on, when in fact there is none. These same RSOs live in society and likely in close proximity to homes where children live as well. Again, so what, they are doing nothing wrong. The AGs continue to paint the picture of the "Sky is Falling" their way of fear mongering! Where is the evidenced based proof?

3-11-2009 North Carolina:

CNN) -- More than 2,100 registered North Carolina sex offenders were found on the social networking site MySpace, the state attorney general's office said Tuesday.

In response to a subpoena from state Attorney General Roy Cooper, "MySpace turned over the names, IP and e-mail addresses of 2,116 convicted North Carolina sex offenders found on its social networking Web site," Cooper's office said in a written statement.

Cooper has requested similar information from Facebook, another popular social networking site, the statement said.

MySpace has told North Carolina authorities that the sex offenders it identified have been removed from the site.

North Carolina's State Bureau of Investigation is sharing the sex offenders' information with all 100 sheriffs in the state, Cooper's office said.

"It's no secret that child predators are on these Web sites," Cooper said in the statement. "Turning over information about these predators to law enforcement helps, but MySpace, Facebook and other social networks need to do much more to protect kids online."

North Carolina passed a law last year banning sex offenders within the state from social networking sites where children are members, making it a felony offense.

Sex offenders on social networking sites is not a new issue. Last month, Newsweek magazine reported that Facebook said it had removed 5,585 convicted sex offenders from its site between May 2008 and January 2009. MySpace also announced it had removed 90,000 sex offenders in a two-year period, the magazine said.

Last June, the Texas attorney general's office said it had arrested seven convicted sex offenders who violated their parole conditions by creating MySpace profiles, according to an article on the TechNewsWorld Web site.

Cooper and Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut's attorney general, for more than three years have led a group of attorneys general in working to make social networking safer, Cooper's office said. The group is pushing social networks to use technology such as age and identity verification to better protect users who may be children.

After discussions with the group, MySpace became the first social networking site to develop technology aimed at finding and removing sex offenders, the North Carolina statement said. Cooper is pushing Facebook to take similar steps.

But, Cooper's office said, "the information provided by MySpace does not include sex offenders who have not been convicted, are not registered or may be using aliases on the site. Cooper remains concerned about other sex offenders on the site who may be lying about who they are, and is continuing to ask MySpace to do more to protect children on the site." ..News Source.. by CNN

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

1. Myspace is not just a child site.

2. Myspace is a community site largest growth is people are 35 and older.

3. There is nothing in terms of use prohibiting RSO accounts.

4. Facebook now prohibits RSO but largest growth is women are 55 and older.