WASHINGTON: Social networking sites will be able to check their lists of registered users against a federal list of sex offenders in terms of new regulation proposed by the U.S. Congress in a bid to curb the online activities of sex predators.
While this provision does not make it mandatory for the websites to undertake the countercheck, the bipartisan legislation introduced in the Senate and House of Representatives Tuesday requires all those who have been convicted of sexual offenses to register their e-mail and instant messaging addresses with law enforcement authorities.
The legislation provides for the justice department to develop a system that would allow websites to check members' addresses against individuals listed in the National Sex Offender Registry.
Offenders who fail to register their online identities with the registry will face up to 10 years in prison. If the offender is on supervised release from prison, the individual's probation would be revoked.
Any attempt by a person over the age of 18 to misrepresent his or her age with the intent of luring a minor over the internet for illegal sexual conduct will be considered as a crime under the regulation and will attract 20 years in prison.
The legislation comes after one of the leading networking sites, MySpace announced its plan to have its database made available to an organization working for identifying and locating missing children in order to carry out investigations. MySpace is also making efforts to evict sex predators from its site.
The other leading social networking sites are Friendster.com, Facebook.com and Classmates.com.
According to Earl Pomeroy, Republican Representative, who has co-sponsored the bill along with Republican Senator John McCain, the bill provides social networking sites, which are a popular way for kids to connect with their friends, with one more tool to help keep the children safe from dangerous predators on the internet.
