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Attorney General Jon Bruning announced recently that social networking site MySpace deleted 146 profiles belonging to approximately 112 registered Nebraska sex offenders. The company removed the profiles during the first half of 2008. MySpace gathers sex offender registry lists from states, compares those lists to users on its site and deletes offenders¡¯ profiles. This is the second time MySpace removed the profiles of Nebraska sex offenders from its site. The company deleted 247 profiles in 2007 after a working group of attorneys general from 52 states and territories, including Nebraska, sent a letter to the company demanding it turn over information about sex offenders. The working group encourages social networking sites to help protect children from threats such as sexual predators and inappropriate content. ¡°This is part of our on going efforts to help protect children on the Internet,¡± said Bruning. ¡°Keeping sex offenders off social sites is a critical step to keeping our kids safe online.¡± A bill making it illegal for registered sex offenders to use social networking sites will be part of the AttoAttorney General Jon Bruning announced today that social networking site MySpace deleted 146 profiles belonging to approximately 112 registered Nebraska sex offenders. The company removed the profiles during the first half of 2008. MySpace gathers sex offender registry lists from states, compares those lists to users on its site and deletes offenders¡¯ profiles. This is the second time MySpace removed the profiles of Nebraska sex offenders from its site. The company deleted 247 profiles in 2007 after a working group of attorneys general from 52 states and territories, including Nebraska, sent a letter to the company demanding it turn over information about sex offenders. The working group encourages social networking sites to help protect children from threats such as sexual predators and inappropriate content. ¡°This is part of our on going efforts to help protect children on the Internet,¡± said Bruning. ¡°Keeping sex offenders off social sites is a critical step to keeping our kids safe online.¡± A bill making it illegal for registered sex offenders to use social networking sites will be part of the Attorney General¡¯s legislative package for next year. Internet safety has been and continues to be a top priority for Bruning. Over the last five years, the Attorney General¡¯s Office has: ¡ñ Reached an agreement with Facebook which restricted users from changing their ages and aggressively removes inappropriate content and groups from the site. ¡ñ Reached an agreement with MySpace that enhances online safety by developing age/identity verification software. ¡ñ Reached an agreement with Yahoo! that shut down 70,000 chat rooms frequented by sexual predators. ¡ñ Worked with the legislature to create the offense of Online Enticement. ¡ñ Worked with the legislature to pass cyberstalking legislation. LB 142 made it a felony for an adult to send sexually explicit material to a child under 16. ¡ñ Increased penalties for the possession of child pornography ¨C one to 20 years for the first offense. One to 50 years for each subsequent offense. ¡ñ Hosted Websafe, an Internet safety conference for local law enforcement and prosecutors, educational administrators, community officials and victim advocacy groups. ¡ñ Launched www.safekids.ne.gov, an Internet safety Web site.
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