Under increasing pressure from state and federal governments, MySpace.com has enacted new measures to block sexual predators from their site. Among the new protective measures will be an age verification system, and other security software features to prevent the misuse of the popular social networking site.
Besides MySpace, other social networking websites may take part in the crackdown to ensure the safety of younger web surfers. MySpace will also allow independent monitoring, to ensure its new safety protocols are effective.
Over the past 3 years, MySpace has grown into a huge online portal, with millions of registered members worldwide. The site is particularly popular with teenagers, and has faced much criticism because of the influx of sexual predators that have been known to “troll” the site, looking for underage sexual partners.
Additionally, MySpace and other social web sites have become networks for so-called “cyber-bullying” of teens. Increasingly, there is pressure upon MySpace to crack down on online bullies who target individuals with inflammatory and humiliating posts.
Although to adults, the cyber-bullying problem may seem trivial, to children and especially young teenagers, it can be seen as an extension of school bullying, and can significantly damage a developing young adult’s self-esteem. MySpace has yet to reveal what measures they will be initiating to minimize the bullying of their younger members.
But the biggest problem with social networking sites is the influx of sexual predators, which often target pre-teen students online. For example, New York investigators set up phony FaceBook profiles last year, posing as 12 to 14 year old students. They were quickly contacted — sometimes the same day the account was set up — by adult users “trolling” for underage sex partners.
Parents have been outraged by the increasing numbers of sexual predators on social networking sites, and the recent crackdown by MySpace is a reflection of the criticism the site has come under by parents. Under the new MySpace rules, parents will be allowed to submit a child’s e-mail address to the site, in order to prevent the misuse of their e-mail address and profile.
MySpace will also change their default user setting to “private” for 16 and 17-year-old members, and has pledged to respond to inappropriate comment complaints within 72 hours. Further, they plan to create a “high school section,” that will be limited to users under 18 years of age.
It is expected that FaceBook and other social networking sites will adopt many of the same security measures as a response to increasing pressure to protect young adults who use these sites.
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[...] MySpace came on strong in 2005 and 2006, garnering millions of members worldwide, and projecting the site to the top of the net. But 2007 was a very different story. The company faced security issues, as parents became increasingly concerned about online sexual predators. Several high profile cases brought MySpace negative attention in 2007, and new memberships have slipped somewhat from their high point in 2006. [...]
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