MySpace, a long time haunt of sexual predators, has agreed to set up new security measures in an effort to protect children online, and rid the net of inappropriate images such as pornography.

The number of crimes which take place on MySpace and similar social networks such as Facebook and Bebo is unknown, but some high profile cases, such as the Megan Meier case, which resulted in a teenage girl committing suicide have brought calls for new guidelines to be drawn up.

The new agreement, made by representatives from MySpace, along with 49 state Attorney Generals, includes dozens of measures designed to make the sleazy world of the Internet, and particularly social networks, a safer and more palatable place for kids.

MySpace, owned by News Corp., will now allow parents to submit their child’s email addresses to the site to prevent anyone else from misusing the addresses to set up fake profiles.

The default setting for 16 and 17 year old users will be changed to private so they can no longer be viewed by adults they don’t already know. A contractor will then be hired to identify and remove illegal images from the site.

These are just the main points in a long list of new additions to the security measures already offered by MySpace to protect their users. The problem is, with kids so technically astute these days, will any of these be enough to prevent the sexual, or bullying crimes which have been rife on social networks?

Connecticut attorney General Richard Blumenthal thinks so, telling The New York Times:

“If for nothing else, this set of principles is a landmark and milestone because it involves an acknowledgement of the importance of age and identity authentication and a commitment to explore and develop those means.”

“If we can put a man on the moon we can do age and identity authentication. Today we form a partnership that will protect children, purge predators and expunge inappropriate content including pornography.”

Now that MySpace is putting new measures in place, will the already more security conscious Facebook follow suit? Or even Bebo and the other copycats which have sprung up over the past few years? And at the end of the day, will any of this actually make the slightest bit of difference, because technology has a nasty habit of changing faster than laws can cope with.

Related:

Entry was posted on Monday, January 14th, 2008 at 10:37 pm under Crime, Internet.

Read more entries by Dave Parrack.
Stumble It!