State, MySpace agree on deal to protect young users
MySpace and the state of Indiana have come to an agreement that could make the Internet a little bit safer for kids.
The biggest change will be the development of new software making it harder for users to fake their identities and ages. The state says the goal is to make it more difficult for sexual predators to contact children on one of the hottest sites on the Internet.
“MySpace is the number one thing to do right now. You get home from school and get on MySpace,” said MySpace user, Ryan Yarrell.
Adults can use the social networking site too, but the state says some are using it for the wrong reasons.
“The Internet is being used more and more by sexual predators to contact children,” said Staci Schneider of the attorney general’s office.
“As a parent, you’re very concerned about it because they are out there and stalking. You never know who you’re talking to,” said parent, Dennis McGuire.
But now MySpace has made an agreement with every state but Texas to better protect kids who use the site. Parents will be able to prevent their kids from signing up by putting the child’s email address on a special list. It’ll also be harder for sexual predators to access a minor’s profile.
Right now users have to manually mark their profile as private. Under the new agreement, all users under 18 will automatically have their profile set to private so strangers can’t view it.
MySpace has also agreed to develop stronger identity verification software to help prevent adults from posing as minors.
“You never know when it’s going to happen to you anyone can just make up something fake,” said MySpace user, Janelle Lantz.
“You can make a site and say you’re 14 and be 38. You never really know,” added Yarrell.
Right now only MySpace has agreed to boost protections for kids but the state is hoping other social networking sites like Facebook and Friendster will also hop on board.
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