MySpace Bars Thousands of Sex Offenders Found Among Members

The social networking site MySpace claims to offer a virtual replica of the real world. It provides a forum to meet old friends, catch up on news, listen to music and chat with strangers. But like the real world, it also has its share of undesirables.

The online site has found more than 29,000 registered sex offenders among its 180 million members, it was revealed on Tuesday. Three months ago the site acknowledged that there were 7,000 profiles of sex offenders on its site, but under pressure from legal officials in several US states it has provided a more complete breakdown of its membership.

"I'm absolutely astonished and appalled because the number has grown so exponentially over so short of time with no explanation," the Connecticut attorney general, Richard Blumenthal, said. "The exploding epidemic of sex offender profiles on MySpace ... screams for action."

MySpace's head of security, Hemanshu Nigam, said: "We're pleased that we've successfully identified and removed registered sex offenders from our site and hope that other social networking sites follow our lead."

MySpace initially refused to cooperate with the requests, citing privacy concerns. But the site, which was bought two years ago by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp for a reported $580m (£283m), began cooperating in May after several states filed formal legal requests.

The concerns follow several highly publicized cases. Last year four families sued the company after their underage daughters were assaulted meeting men they had initially contacted online.

In a case in Texas last year a judge ruled that the company should not be held responsible after another underage girl - referred to as Julie Doe in court papers - was assaulted by a man she met on the site. "If anyone had a duty to protect Julie Doe it was her parents, not MySpace," the judge wrote. This week a Virginia man pleaded guilty to kidnapping and soliciting a 14-year-old girl he met on the site.

MySpace claims to be the biggest social networking site, with 114 million unique users worldwide. More than half of US teenagers between the ages of 12-17 who go online use social networking sites.

Several states are pushing for more stringent safeguards, including requiring children to obtain parental permission before creating profiles on networking sites. However, a recent study by the University of New Hampshire found that unwanted solicitations are declining.