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According to a NY Times article today NY State’s Attorney General, Andrew Cuomo, is pushing for a bill that will keep level 3 sex offenders from registering on sites like Facebook and Myspace. While I applaud the effort I wonder if the bill is just window dressing for an upcoming political season.
The bill proposes that higher level sex offenders must register an email address with their probation officer. States would then be able to share these email address and cross check them with the Facebook data base. Last time I checked getting an email address was a tad easier than picking up a hot dog at a 7-11.
Think about it. I have more email address than I can handle, look I just signed up for another one, its that easy. Currently both Myspace and Facebook bar any sex offender from registering on their sites and Myspace has a team of individuals that monitor new accounts looking for sex offenders.
Mr. Cuomo stated that he did not believe the bill would restrict the rights of any sex offenders but it will be interesting to see if anyone takes up the case when the law passes. The real problem is that creating a social profile is increasingly easy and incredibly difficult to control.
This is a problem I wish I had a solution for, it is something that can keep you up at night. What if we find an effective way to stop sex offenders from using Myspace and Facebook, won’t they just turn to Xbox Live and Playstation Home next.
If politicians and Corporate America are serious about halting sex offenders from using social networks sterner actions need to be taken. The problem then becomes, who sets these limits. Do Facebook and Myspace require a Social Security numbers or maybe a drivers licenses to register ? Do we want those companies having that kind of information. I don’t know.
The problem of sex offenders and the internet will not be solved by passing a bill that requires individuals to register an email address. I would love to hear if anyone out there can think of a solution to this problem. Let me know.
Reasons I am against this:
#1 it won’t work - as you say, they can set up a new e-mail address. Also there are plenty of other places to meet people online.
#2 it will waste money to administer
#3 what about sex offenders that haven’t been found yet? what about violent offenders? etc.etc. there are lots of undesirable people who aren’t registered sex offenders that you wouldn’t want talking to your kids. The solution is to practise restraint in who you talk to, what information you give out, and who you agree to meet, and to teach your kids to do the same.
If the court has decided that someone is ’safe’ enough to not be in prison, they should be ’safe’ enough to join a social networking site. If they’re not - then they shouldn’t be out of prison in the first place.
Reasons I am against this:
#1 it won’t work - as you say, they can set up a new e-mail address. Also there are plenty of other places to meet people online.
#2 it will waste money to administer
#3 what about sex offenders that haven’t been found yet? what about violent offenders? etc.etc. there are lots of undesirable people who aren’t registered sex offenders that you wouldn’t want talking to your kids. The solution is to practise restraint in who you talk to, what information you give out, and who you agree to meet, and to teach your kids to do the same.
If the court has decided that someone is ’safe’ enough to not be in prison, they should be ’safe’ enough to join a social networking site. If they’re not - then they shouldn’t be out of prison in the first place.
This is just a useless law that will do nothing. I could never understand why the police/government insist on going after the end of the food chain, ie the website. Its the same thing in drug enforcement. They insist on going after the drug dealer or user, rather than the supplier.
If this is to work, it has to be done at the ISP level.
It is an interesting problem and as Brian says it is easier to go after the “end of the food chain than” fix the problem. I think as David said education of children is one of our best bets. Maybe we Facebook and Myspace could create an online class that kids could take that would help them identify sex offenders. These kids could get some kind of online badge or recognition that would show up on their page.
This is just a useless law that will do nothing. I could never understand why the police/government insist on going after the end of the food chain, ie the website. Its the same thing in drug enforcement. They insist on going after the drug dealer or user, rather than the supplier.
If this is to work, it has to be done at the ISP level.
One could suggest registering email accounts with home addresses. It may not stop all registered sex offenders, but it could filter it just a bit. It is a really great idea. However, the truth still lies in where draw the line when we try to protect our privacy and our children?
It is an interesting problem and as Brian says it is easier to go after the “end of the food chain than” fix the problem. I think as David said education of children is one of our best bets. Maybe we Facebook and Myspace could create an online class that kids could take that would help them identify sex offenders. These kids could get some kind of online badge or recognition that would show up on their page.
One could suggest registering email accounts with home addresses. It may not stop all registered sex offenders, but it could filter it just a bit. It is a really great idea. However, the truth still lies in where draw the line when we try to protect our privacy and our children?
I dont understand how u can Bar sex offendders from facebook because how do u know if hes offending you. and if he is bared he could just make a new account its not that hard Iknow people that have 3 acounts I personally think theres no point u can just report it to the police or somthing
I dont understand how u can Bar sex offendders from facebook because how do u know if hes offending you. and if he is bared he could just make a new account its not that hard Iknow people that have 3 acounts I personally think theres no point u can just report it to the police or somthing
[...] NY State Attorney General’s office has also been extremely aggressive in seeking similar measures to be taken by social networks. The plan in Britain revolves around [...]