Task Force Information
Last year, 29,000 Registered Sex Offenders (RSOs) were discovered on MySpace, after initial reports that the number was only 7,000. The number is now 90,000, and reflects only those registering with truthful information. We seek to limit risk to minors that stems from users — particularly RSOs — registering with false information on social network sites (“SNS”). The Multi-State Working Group on Social Networking, comprising 50 state Attorneys General, asked the Task Force to find and develop online identity authentication tools primarily for social network sites in the United States. The Attorneys General also asked the Task Force to establish specific and objective criteria that will be utilized to evaluate existing and new technology safety solutions.
Timeline
“MySpace admitted they've found thousands of sex offenders on their site, but they have refused to provide information so law enforcement and parents can do something about it,” said North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper. “It's outrageous that MySpace chooses to protect the privacy of predators over the safety of children. We will take action to require MySpace to give law enforcement and parents the information we need to protect our kids.”
After initially withholding the information, citing federal privacy laws, MySpace began sharing the information after states filed formal legal requests.
MySpace finds more than 29,000 convicted sex offenders on its social networking site — more than four times the number reported by the company two months ago.
According to MySpace, one of the “Big Six Basics for Online Security” is to proactively identify and remove profiles of registered sex offenders. If true, how could MySpace's initial estimate of “a few thousand'” be so wrong? The fact is, MySpace had no idea how many registered sex offenders had infested its site — and still doesn't. Here's why.
It is a truism of the online world that ID deception is rampant. The 50,000 figure — while disturbing — is in no way an accurate estimate of how many sexual predators are trolling for victims online, masquerading under false identities.
In response to a subpoena from Attorney General Richard Blumenthal (CT), “MySpace revealed it has identified about 90,000 convicted registered sex offenders on the site, 40,000 more than previously acknowledged.
“Nearly 100,000 convicted sex offenders with MySpace profiles powerfully refutes the recent task force report -- based on outdated and incomplete data -- falsely downplaying the threat of predators on social networking sites,” said Blumenthal. “Almost 100,000 convicted sex offenders mixing with children on MySpace -- shown by our subpoena -- is outrageous and totally unacceptable. For every one of them, there may be hundreds of others using false names and ages. I urge MySpace and the social networking industry to end their resistance to age and identify verification -- vital to barring predators and protecting children from inappropriate content.”
