Date: 02-01-2008
New York lawmakers have introduced new legislation that aims to restrict the access of sexual predators to social networking websites. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, State Sen. Joseph Bruno, and Assemblyman Sheldon Silver revealed the new Electronic Security and Targeting of Online Predators Act (e-STOP), backed by MySpace, Facebook, and Yahoo!. The new bill makes it mandatory for registered sex offenders in New York to share their online identity information, such as email addresses and instant messaging screen names, with the State. This information would then be sent to social networking sites for prescreening and blocking of convicted sex offenders. ''This measure will ensure greater protections for kids, more control for parents, and more tools for law enforcement to better police the Internet and protect people from being victimized,'' said Sen. Bruno.
