Facebook Removed 5,500 Sex Offender Profiles Since May

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 20, 2009 - 9:48am.
Raleigh, N.C. - Online social network Facebook has removed the profiles of more than 5,500 convicted sex offenders from its website since last May, according to Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, the Associated Press reported. "The message in this number is Facebook has an equal stake in solving this problem of protecting children. They have an equal stake in the predator problem and its solution," Blumenthal told AP.

The news comes after MySpace (NYSE: NWS) said earlier this month that it had removed the profiles of 90,000 sex offenders, as well as a report that saw the head of Sentinal, the company hired by MySpace to identify sex offenders on the site, allege that over 8,000 of the booted MySpace members also had profiles on Facebook.

Facebook chief privacy officer Chris Kelly told AP has proposed to the several attorneys general working on the issue that they work jointly to develop a real-time cross-referencing system that would "block any registration from the get-go."

 

Related Links:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090220/ap_on_bi_ge/sex_offenders_facebook

http://snipurl.com/cbjc9 (DMW previous coverage)

http://www.ct.gov/ag/cwp/view.asp?A=2341&Q=414830

Comments

Uh, what if the

Uh, what if the Ex-sex-offender is trying to, above-board, maintain what few social contacts a pariah is likely to have left after the legal and social processes are through (if ever) with him? Is punishment meant to last forever? What about some sort of compromise where the status is clearly known and behavior is openly exposed to supervision?

i agree

I COMPLETELY agree. My charges where 15 years ago...does that mean I shouldn't be allowed to use this service?

The problem with these

The problem with these blanket policies is that there is ZERO effort to look beyond the label "sex offender." If the offense victimed a child, definitely give 'em the boot. But if the so-called sex offense was, say, for public nudity (don't think it hasn't happened), then where is the sense behind banning folks who have already served there time. Beware of the statement that "sex offenders" can't be rehabilitated. That is the belief for pedophiles, but has been attributed to voyeurs and panty-stealers as well. Forget double-jeopardy. Too many people with this label don't deserve the stigma, however are damned to a living on the fringe professionally and in a social networking environment.

The Yankee Group forecast

The Yankee Group forecast that wireless subscriptions in the U.S. should climb by 4.5 percent in 2009 to 285 million from 273 million.

There are actually millions

There are actually millions of users. should be considered. I congratulate the facebook management.. burak porno izle

Well worth the read. Thanks

Well worth the read. Thanks for sharing this information. I got a chance to know about this.

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