Algorithms, Card Check Proposed to Stop Fraudulent Registrations

“Congress is tired of talking about it, the parents of America are tired of talking about it,” Full Committee Chmn. Barton (R-Tex.) said. It’s time for “responsible, reasoned action” to protect children from “despicable child predators that are on the loose,” he said. MySpace.com, Facebook.com and Xanga.com, whose representatives testified at the hearing, must be vigilant in working to “remain one step ahead of predators,” Barton said. “There’s no greater priority” than fighting child porn and exploitation, Barton said as the series of hearings ended, noting that he plans to work with minority members, like Rep. Dingell (D-Mich.), to craft a comprehensive draft bill.

MySpace seems willing to spend money to curb pedophile access to kids, but so far the steps social networking sites have taken are “woefully insufficient,” Ranking Member Stupak (D-Mich.) said. Stupak, a police officer for 12 years before coming to Congress, “understands the danger these sites pose if status quo continues. Saying that nothing can be done… is no longer an option,” he said. Social networking sites “cannot survive if they act as a fertile hunting ground” for child predators, he said. The problem’s root is the sites’ inability to limit access to members of “age-appropriate groups,” Stupak said.

In time the sites might implode from bad press about predators pursuing kids on the Web, he said, but that’s not the solution. Aggressive and immediate measures are needed to keep young children off social networking sites and protect teen users who post profiles, he said. Subcommittee Chmn. Whitfield (R-Ky.) called for stakeholders to collaborate on a “a gold standard to create a safe environment for children.”

The best defense against predators is to “better understand the potential dangers and take active measures to protect yourself,” said Michael Angus, gen. counsel for Fox Interactive Media and MySpace.com: “If every person applies time-tested offline safety lessons to their online experiences… the Internet really becomes a much safer place for all.” But as in any community, when crime occurs online, law enforcement must have the appropriate tools, knowledge and consistent laws to identify, prosecute and bring the criminals to justice, he said in his written testimony.

MySpace, now a community of tens of millions, has tackled the challenge “head-on,” Angus said. The site takes a multi-pronged approach to Web safety, including technological tools, partnering with education and safety advocacy experts and aid to law enforcement investigations, Angus said. Young MySpace users’ profiles are set on “private” by default, so strangers can’t view those pages unless invited by the user. The site requires users over age 18 to know the e-mail address or first and last name of a 14- or 15-year-old to communicate with the child.

Xanga.com CEO John Hiler told the subcommittee his site isn’t like others being criticized. The site, predominantly used for blogging, has an environment “much more like a cafe than a nightclub,” he said. In April, Xanga introduced a limited social networking service but Hiler has been careful not to enable features like private messaging, chat and profile searches by demographic, he said.

Links to Sex Offender Registries Suggested

Members put witnesses in the position of defending their ability to keep tabs on the number of users of their websites, which collectively approach 100 million. MySpace doesn’t scan every image posted to its site? Stupak asked Angus. MySpace does indeed, he responded -- each of 3 million photos uploaded daily, and the site rejects 1,000 daily for inappropriate content. Facebook CEO Chris Kelly said the site’s technology monitors rejected “friend” requests and sends a report of suspicious profiles to an engineer every 4 hours.

Site staffs’ ability to report inappropriate content was questioned. Rep. DeGette (D-Colo.) referred to staff as “recent college graduates” who lacked the keen eye of law enforcement officials. Angus said all MySpace staff were trained in safety practices, and MySpace officials “do speak regularly with law enforcement.” Told by Rep. Burgess (R- Tex.) that each customer service representative handled about 475,000 users, Kelly responded to laughter that it was the same for Congress.

Children won’t hesitate to lie about their age, Burgess said. Angus agreed, but used that to defend MySpace’s age policy: “We believe that 14-year-olds are going to join” regardless of whether MySpace technically allows it. About 20% of MySpace users are under 18, according to Comscore data, he said, but didn’t know how many 14-year-olds were signed up.

Rep. Walden (R-Ore.) said the lack of age verification is the “equivalent of going to the liquor store without having to show ID.” Why not require a credit card and “nominal 50 cents charge” to sign up on an otherwise open website? he asked -- iTunes works that way. Angus retorted that even credit card companies issue cards to minors sometimes.

Children don’t take the age-input section seriously, Walden said, citing his sons’ friends. Kelly said that Facebook’s limitation to users who can prove they attended a certain school and its “neighborhood watch” program ensure that users take it seriously. MySpace has discussed creating a national registry of e-mail addresses for sex offenders, Angus said. But Walden said signing up for an e-mail address from free services would compromise that idea’s utility.

Some states already have sex offender registries that websites should check, Walden said. Angus wasn’t sure they included e-mail addresses, and Kelly wondered what sex offender would use his real name. “I believe some of these guys are stupid enough to use their real names, even in their e-mail addresses,” Walden replied.

DeGette said she watched her 11-year-old daughter register on MySpace with no problem, a clear violation of its terms. Why not add algorithms that can identify suspicious user behavior? she asked. Angus said MySpace’s algorithms monitor all text in a user’s profile as well, and said about 200,000 users had been kicked off, but couldn’t say over what period.

State laws need to change as well, Angus said, citing an Internet Crimes Against Children task force leader who told him that online sex discussions between adults and minors aren’t illegal in some states: “It’s this kind of activity that should be criminalized” before weighing down sites like his. Burgess warned witnesses that “some clever lawyer… may try to draw a straight line” between a minor getting hurt through the website and the site’s liability.

Members used witnesses to justify congressional proposals to require data retention on ISPs to aid in child porn investigations (WID June 28 p1). Xanga has always kept IP addresses of users and is now working with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children to figure out what other information might be useful to store, Hiler said. In a few days the website will associate an IP address with every uploaded image, he said. Photo storage costs are already high, and the marginal cost of adding IP addresses is low, Kelly and Hiler said. MySpace retains IP addresses for at least 90 days, Angus said, and “I can’t imagine [keeping them longer] would be cost prohibitive.” Hiler warned that it might be easier for Xanga to handle such a change because it uses its own proprietary platform, unlike some ISPs.