Future of MySpace Could Become More Restrictive

MySpace came under attack over the past year after some of its young members fell prey to adult predators posing as minors.

(MORRO BAY, Calif.) - The profiles of more than 29,000 sex offenders have been tossed out by MySpace, the increasingly popular, worldwide social networking site.

U.S. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal's reaction, "The exploding epidemic of sex offender profiles on MySpace -- 29,000 and counting -- screams for action," underscores the impact he and others around the U.S. could bring to bear on the site, which was recently purchased by News Corporation's Rupert Murdoch, who brought the FOX News to the nation.

A lawsuit in January by the families of several teenage girls sexually assaulted by MySpace members, placed blame on the site for failing to safeguard its young members.

The new revelation that the number of sex offenders on the site is several times larger than revealed two months ago is a mixed blessing for MySpace.

MySpace Chief Security Officer Hemanshu Nigam, said they are pleased to have successfully identified and removed registered sex offenders from the site and adds that they hope that other social networking sites follow their lead.

But others like Blumenthal say it is the reason that stricter rules have to be incorporated to protect children from sexual predators.

Nearly all minors who are active MySpace members use the option of setting their profile to "private", which blocks unwanted visitors from access. The system still allows a message to be sent, emphasizing the importance of parents and guardians taking an active role in supervision, experts say.

Blumenthal has made headlines with his coalition of state authorities who are lobbying for more stringent safeguard for minors at MySpace. He and other state AGs have demanded that the service begins verifying a user's age and require parental permission for minors.

MySpace stated in May that about 7,000 sex offender user profiles had been deleted. The site attracts about 60 million unique visitors monthly in the U.S. A person has to be 14 to register an account on MySpace.