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Attorney General, General Law Committee Leaders Announce Bill Requiring Age Verification, Parental Permission And Access At Social Networking Web Sites

March 7, 2007

(A portion of the press release)

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and leaders of the General Law Committee today announced legislation requiring social networking web sites like MySpace, Xanga and others to verify users' ages, obtain parental consent to post profiles of minors and allow parents access to their children's pages.

Under the proposal, sites that fail to verify ages and fail to obtain parental permission to post profiles of users under 18 face civil penalties of up to $5,000 per violation. The legislation also allows individuals to bring private lawsuits. Information about parents would be checked and parents would be contacted directly when necessary.

"These sites must verify ages and give parents power to keep their children off these sites - contacting parents directly if necessary to confirm their consent," Blumenthal said. "Failing to verify ages means that children are exposed to sexual predators who may be older men lying to seem younger"

Blumenthal added, "Parents are the first and last line of defense against sexual predators and other social networking site dangers. This measure empowers parents - enabling them to decide whether their children put profiles on sites. Social networking sites must obtain parental permission to post a minor's profile, assuring parents have the final say. This provision sends a powerful message: Respect the right and role of parents to restrict their children in social networking."

http://www.ct.gov/ag/cwp/view.asp?A=2788&Q=333086