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New
York, NY – New Jersey Attorney General
Anne Milgram joined Connecticut Attorney
General Richard Blumenthal and North Carolina
Attorney General Roy Cooper today to announce
that the popular Internet social networking
site MySpace has agreed to take significant
steps to better protect children on its
website, including a way to quickly report
on-line abuses similar to the Report Abuse!
icon created by New Jersey last fall.
MySpace
has agreed to consider a common abuse reporting
mechanism to provide a means to report abuse
on every content-containing page, allowing
users to categorize the type of offensive
content at issue via a drop-down menu. MySpace
will try to acknowledge reports made via
the reporting mechanism within 24 hours
and will report back to consumers within
72 hours of receiving complaints.
In
an agreement on social networking sites
safety, which was unveiled today, MySpace
also agreed to create a task force to explore
and develop age and identity verification
technology. A coalition of states, working
through the National Association of Attorneys
General, have advocated age and identity
verification as vital tools to protect children
using social networking sites from on-line
sexual predators and inappropriate material.
"The
Internet can be a dangerous place for children
and young adults, with sexual predators
surfing social networking sites in search
of potential victims, and cyber bullies
sending threatening and anonymous messages,''
Attorney General Milgram said. "In
New Jersey, we developed a Report Abuse!
icon with on-line links to specifically
empower visitors to social networking sites
with the ability to swiftly report abusive
and potentially criminal behavior.
“Our
icon, which was adopted by MyYearbook and
the five social networking sites of Community
Connect, is distinctive and appears on every
content-containing page. It's an important
tool to protect kids and we urge MySpace
to join this cooperative effort to make
social networking sites safer,” Milgram
said.
"MySpace
is pleased to work with Attorney General
Milgram on Internet safety matters including
the development of a standardized reporting
abuse mechanism, an area where she is a
true leader," said MySpace Chief Security
Officer Hemanshu Nigam. "MySpace currently
provides users an easy process for reporting
abusive conduct by offering a report abuse
link at the bottom of every profile on MySpace,
and we will explore additional models and
proposals to determine how to best to empower
and protect our members online."
MySpace
will invite other social networking sites,
age and identify verification experts, child
protection groups and technology companies
to participate in the task force on age
and identity verification technology. The
task force will report back to the attorneys
general every three months and issue a formal
report with findings and recommendations
at the end of 2008.
Other
specific changes and policies that MySpace
agreed to develop include: allowing parents
to submit their children’s email addresses
so MySpace can prevent anyone using those
email addresses from setting up profiles;
making the default setting “private”
for profiles of 16- and 17-year-olds; promising
to respond within 72 hours to inappropriate
content complaints and committing more staff
and/or resources to review and classify
photographs and discussion groups.
The agreement culminates nearly two years
of discussions between MySpace and the attorneys
generals, who were led by Cooper and Blumenthal,
co-chairmen of a NAAG executive committee
on social networking sites. Forty-nine states
and the District of Columbia are parties
to the agreement.
MySpace also agreed to work to implement
the following:
- Strengthen
software identifying underage users;
-
Retain a contractor to better identify
and expunge inappropriate images;
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Obtain and constantly update a list of
pornographic web sites and regularly sever
any links between them and MySpace;
-
Implement changes making it harder for
adults to contact children;
-
Dedicate meaningful resources to educating
children and parents about on-line safety;
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Create a closed “high school”
section for users under 18.
New
Jersey unveiled its Report Abuse! icon in
late September as one of a number of Internet
safety initiatives, including training for
teachers and police officers. The Attorney
General’s Office issued subpoenas
to a dozen social networking sites last
year after MySpace disclosed it had determined
there were thousands of registered sex offenders
with profiles on the networking sites. MySpace
identified and eliminated 268 New Jersey
offenders with MySpace profiles. Another
64 profiles were identified on other sites
as potential New Jersey parolees or convicted
offenders on probation.
In
November, the New Jersey Parole Board voted
unanimously to impose a specific condition
on 4,400 sex offenders under Parole Board
supervision that will prohibit them from
establishing profiles on social networking
sites.
On
December 27, Acting Governor and State Senate
President Richard J. Codey signed legislation
authorizing Internet restrictions on convicted
sex offenders. Under the bill, which Codey
sponsored in the Senate, anyone convicted
of using a computer to help commit a sex
offense will be strictly prohibited from
using a computer or accessing the Internet,
and the restrictions could extend for the
entire period of parole. The bill also gives
the State Parole Board the discretion to
impose Internet access restrictions on other
sex offenders, regardless of whether they
used a computer to facilitate their crime.
These
restrictions will require the person to
submit to periodic, unannounced examinations
of their computer equipment; require the
person to install hardware or software systems
on the computer to monitor use; require
the person to inform law enforcement if
they have access to or use of a computer
or Internet device; and receive written
approval from the state before accessing
or using a computer or the Internet.
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