MySpace reveals 90,000 sex offenders removed

"Social networking sites remain rife with sexual predators"

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4 February 2009 15:54 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

MySpace has revealed that it has identified and removed about 90,000 registered sex offenders from its site in the last 2 years.

Almost double the number the company had estimated it had removed, the information was only unveiled as a result of a subpoena filed against the site by US government officials on a long-running crusade for safety for kids online.

Roy Cooper, the North Carolina attorney general and Connecticut attorney general Richard Blumenthal's ongoing mission, complete with taskforce, has been to protect children on social networking sites from sexual predators.

Blumenthal said the information "provides compelling proof that social networking sites remain rife with sexual predators".

Facebook has yet to respond to a similar subpoena, with Blumenthal stating an early search revealed the number of sex offenders using the site was "substantial".