Two attorneys in North Carolina are fighting the 2008 state law barring registered sex offenders from using social networking sites like Facebook.
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A new bill is being proposed in Texas in order to push state and federal efforts for child protective services online. According to ABC News, Texas’ Attorney General Greg Abbott, U.S. Senator John Cornyn, and U.S. Representative Lamar Smith have announced the SAFETY Act of 2009. The bill would enable further cooperation between the state and online destination sites for creating a safer environment for children on the web.

As the law currently stands, convicted sex offenders have to provide certain information about themselves, including their name and physical address. This information is made public, in a database that’s accessible by anyone. The proposed SAFETY Act of 2009 would up the ante, requiring convicted sex offenders t provide their email addresses, mobile telephone numbers, social networking aliases and other electronic information to the state’s Department of Public Safety. Unlike the information they already have to give to the state, the electronic information would no be available to the public. The data would be utilized by the state and online social networks like MySpace and Facebook to help screen new and existing users for cross-reference.
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