MySpace which appears at #6 this week is being asked to crack down on sex offenders. Prosecutors in eight states have asked the social networking website to reveal convicted sex criminals who have profiles on MySpace. MySpace officials have responded that they have identified and blocked the profiles of sex offenders, but argued that privacy laws prevent them from revealing this information publicly. Pennsylvania prosecutors are asking for this information in order to prosecute sex offenders who may be violating their parole. MySpace has been given until May 29 to reveal this information.

Recently, MySpace has received a wealth of criticism from the media for being a haven for sexual predators targetting teens who often post overly personal information in their profiles. In addition, convicted sex offenders are often posting profiles of their own, which have been startlingly easy to find and identify by officials. Although MySpace is refusing to reveal their list of sex offenders, they have proclaimed that these criminals are absolutely not welcome on their site and are working with Sentinel Tech to develop the first proprietary software to identify and remove sexual predators from online communities.

And I had previously thought that the scariest thing about MySpace was the loud music and garish designs. (Animated GIFs make me shudder.) It is a frightening world out there and all parents should make sure to keep an eye on what their kids are doing online. Although I hope that MySpace can rid their site of predators, we can all protect ourselves by practicing safety (i.e. not revealing personal information such as addresses) in our Internet usage.