It seems we finally have someone else with some authority stepping up and asking for a change in the world of social networks. John Aristotle Phillips, CEO of Aristotle International Inc., a global leader in online identity verification, has asked that MySpace be sold by NewsCorp due to their inability to “manage sensitive [customer] data”. Apparently, but to little surprise, MySpace hasn’t been properly handling the numerous sex-offender cases that have been becoming more and more prevalent on the site.
John A. Phillips (Aristotle CEO) says:
“We believe MySpace must notify parents whether their children have been contacted by a registered sex offender on the service and must make all records available for analysis by law enforcement as well as child safety researchers to the fullest extent permitted by law”.
He goes on to say, “Now it appears MySpace is stonewalling […] this kind of tactic is consistent with the business practices of other NewsCorp divisions…”
In 2008, MySpace agreed to implement several pro-active solutions to the site including: parental involvement via email, 72 hour response time to consumer complaints, 24 hour hotline for emergencies, and implementing better identity-authentication technologies. One can argue that not only are some of these amendments minimal, but that this and more should have been implemented when the social-networking site was built.
Phillips says that MySpace seems to have kept distance from the problem due to the fear of negative publicity—seems MySpace has buried themselves in a grave of irony if you ask me. Phillips goes on to say that “a responsible company with responsible management would have…notified parents whose children were contacted by convicted sex offenders...”
As an internet and social networking-safety advocate, I am glad to hear that someone with some concrete influence in the media world is taking a firm stance on an issue that so many parents should be concerned about. Sadly, I still meet parents every day that have NO IDEA registered sex offenders are able to join social networks. I’m glad Phillips is speaking out.
However, I do think Phillips needs to address not just MySpace but the hundreds of other sites that don’t manage their memberships just as MySpace doesn’t. With that said, I don’t think the finger pointing should only be at MySpace. As I blogged about in the past, the new favorite choice among sex offenders is Facebook.
There needs to be a focus on websites that aren’t as popular as MySpace, sites where kids are “virtually sold” to adults or the sites where teen nudity is way too easily accessible and nothing is being done to stop it. MySpace, though fairly popular among tweens, is losing its stride as kids are starting to turn to social networks that even they feel are a little safer, such as Facebook, but in reality they are not.
I think it’s a great sign for us concerned parents to see that CEO’s of companies are publically making bold statements. As I say often, “if you don’t ask, you don’t get.” Maybe asking NewsCorp to do the right thing will help to get the results our families need.
Feb
5
