MySpace kicks out sex offenders, denies to give data to AGs

Popular online social network MySpace said on Tuesday that it has deleted a few thousand user profiles of convicted sex offenders from its Website, as part of its efforts to fend off pedophiles that are using the site as a way to reach underage users .

MySpace said it has removed and blocked thousands of registered sex offenders from its website after matching them with Sentinel's registered sex offender database that contains the names and physical descriptions of convicted sexual predators.

The announcement came just a day after the top law enforcement officers from eight states forced MySpace to expose the names of registered sex offenders using the youth-oriented social networking website.

On Monday, the attorneys general from eight states, including Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania and North Carolina, wrote a letter to MySpace, asking it to provide them with the number and names and addresses of sex offenders using this portal, as well as the steps it has taken to warn users about sex offenders and remove their profiles.

Although, the Los Angeles based MySpace has removed user profiles of convicted sex offenders, but it denied to comply with the request by attorneys general from eight states to hand over the names of registered sex offenders who use the social networking Web site, insisting that the law prohibits the site from revealing the identities of sex offenders to U.S. state attorneys general.

Officials from MySpace said yesterday they cannot hand over the attorneys general the names, addresses and other personal information about the sex offenders without violating federal and state laws.

"We've made it clear we have a zero tolerance policy against convicted sex offenders," MySpace Chief Security Officer Hemanshu Nigam said in a phone interview yesterday. "We've said numerous times that the goal was to delete them."

Expressing his disappointment over the law enforcement authorities' actions on Monday, Nigam said the move would require MySpace to break the law. However, he didn’t specify which laws MySpace would break by handing over the information to the authorities.

In a prompt response to Nigam’s statement, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said the company failed to cite specific laws or court decisions, and called MySpace's reasoning vague and disingenuous.

"I am deeply disappointed and troubled by this unreasonable and unfounded rejection of our request," Blumenthal said. "Law enforcement authorities have a vital, valid need to know about such sex offenders whose convictions are public record and whose actions may threaten children and violate their parole or probation."

Officials have asked the website to respond by May 29. However, they did not say what actions they would take if MySpace failed to respond adequately by the deadline.

Last year in December, MySpace, owned by media tycoon Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., announced it was deploying new technology from Sentinel Tech Holding Corp. that will build a database containing the names and physical descriptions of convicted sex offenders.

According to MySpace, the technology, dubbed Sentinel Safe, helps the company to block convicted sex offenders from accessing the popular lifestyle portal. This automated system matches MySpace user details with the database and helps the company to identify and remove any matching profiles from the community. The software was launched in early May.

While MySpace may be popular with its young user base, it has been getting increasing pressure from the government, parents and advocacy groups over the vulnerability of its users to child predators. MySpace has taken steps to ensure that its users are safe online, but many feel that the company's efforts just aren't enough.

The site currently has 170 million user profiles and is adding 320,000 profiles per day, as per MySpace’s estimates.

The Website has become a common target of child protection advocates after the reports and lawsuits filed by so many victims of predators accusing it of failing to protect underage users from sexual predators.

MySpace, which also has become a common victim of spammers, is taking tougher measures to keep it from the people who launch spam attacks to retain its rapid growth.

This most widely-known lifestyle portal and other social networking sites allow users to create online profiles with photos, music, and personal information, including hometowns and education. Company's policy prevents children under 14 from setting up profiles, but it relies on users to specify their ages.