Social networking websites such as MySpace and Facebook as well as instant messaging like AOL and Google have become a chief means of communication for many children today. Unfortunately, the success of this new communication has also opened the door for predators wishing to lure our kids. We have all seen far too many television programs and newspaper articles with new stories everyday about sex offenders posing as children to bait our kids into the unthinkable.
So today, I joined with Reps. Earl Pomeroy (D-ND), Steve Chabot (R-OH), Anthony Weiner (D-NY), and Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Charles Schumer (D-NY) in introducing the KIDS (Keeping the Internet Devoid of Sexual Predators) Act of 2007 to require sex offenders to register their e-mail and instant message addresses with the National Sex Offender Registry. Once a sex offender has registered their e-mail and instant message addresses, the Justice Department will make this information available to social networking sites upon request to compare with user profiles. Offenders who fail to register their will face fines, imprisonment, or the revocation of their parole. In addition, the Act also makes it a crime for any adults to misrepresent their age with the intent to use the Internet to engage in criminal sexual conduct with a minor.
This bill represents the perfect amount of coordination between the technology industry and the federal government to continue protecting our children and as a bipartisan measure, should enjoy widespread support.