We saw this article on Bulldog Reporter’s Daily Dog.
Crisis Erupts for MySpace: Social Networking Site Faces Lawsuit from Parents of Teens Who Were Sexually Abused By Adults They Met on the Site
Four families have sued the popular social-networking site MySpace and its owner, News Corp., after their teenage daughters were solicited online and sexually abused by adults they met on the site, CNNMoney.com reports.
Lawyers representing the plaintiffs said that families from New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Texas filed suits Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, charging recklessness, fraud and negligent misrepresentation by the companies.
“In our view, MySpace waited entirely too long to attempt to institute meaningful security measures that effectively increase the safety of their underage users,” Arnold and Itkin lawyer Jason Itkin said in a statement.
He told CNNMoney.com that the families would be seeking “probably in the millions of dollars… enough to get the attention of a service like MySpace.” He said it was up to each family to determine the monetary damages they wanted to seek.
“Blaming the families of abuse victims who were solicited online, as some have done, is a cynical excuse that ignores the fact that social networking sites can lead to heinous abuse by Internet predators,” said Adam Loewy of Barry & Loewey. “It is now clear that MySpace recognizes that serious security problems exist.”
MySpace said it had taken appropriate precautionary measures. “MySpace serves as an industry leader on Internet safety and we take proactive measures to protect our members,” said Hemanshu Nigam, the site’s chief security officer, in a statement. “We provide users with a range of tools to enable a safer online experience.”
“Ultimately, Internet safety is a shared responsibility. We encourage everyone to apply common sense offline safety lessons in their online experiences and engage in open family dialogue about smart web practices,” he added.
Corra has always been of mixed emotions when it comes to states mandating background checks on online dating and social websites. Then you see a story like this and start to wonder what is best overall. While we still oppose any legislation that would mandate background. Still, we think background searches should be offered on social networks and online dating sites.
Of course, for the most part background searches may not help in preventing some sick adult from abusing children, sexually or otherwise. Most pedophiles have more experience in winning youngsters than youngsters do in avoiding pedophiles. And kids being kids, are often loathe to tell their parents about the “great new guy” they met over the Internet.
Nevertheless, no one needs a sex offender chasing your kid or for that matter chasing after you on a social network and online dating service in order to get to your kids. For that matter no one needs them in the workplace, and HR Managers should take note of the damage to moral and the potential litigation a sex offender can wreak on your business. We realize this is a world of apology and understanding, a world in fact of less personal accountability, but the experienced Corra still sees things as they are and not as apologists hope they are.
So if you are dating online, screen your prospective paramours. If you run the Nationwide Criminal Search, not only does it protect you but your children as well. The Nationwide Criminal Search retrieves the names of sexual offenders in all fifty states. We suggest, too, that you run a Social Security Trace, which helps establish that person is who he really says he is. A Comprehensive Background Check will detail much of someone’s material assets, property, vehicles, boats and planes, show liens and judgments, family relations and business associations.
This is horrible, what happened on My Space. But it could happen on any Internet Social Network or Online Dating Site. And it does, more often than we may realize. While My Space will probably suffer the financial consequences, I’m sure child abuse is the last thing its owners want or need. In the end it is not the service, but people who abuse the service for their own sick and selfish needs.
So do as Corra urges and check them out before you date them. Check them out before you meet them. And check them out before you hire.
