Bill Proposes Parental Guidance Online

A senator from Georgia has proposed a bill to force social networking websites to limit access for minors, more strictly, and ensure that parents have considerable control over the activities of minors online.

The bill proposes to make it illegal for the owner or operator of a social networking Web site to allow minors 17 and under to create or maintain a Web page without parental permission. It would also force MySpace.com and Facebook.com to allow parents or guardians to have access to their children's Web pages at all times. Georgia Senator, Cecil Staton, the bill's sponsor, said that while he believes parents should be actively involved and aware of their children's activities, the social networking companies also should be held accountable for the safety of minors.

However, critics see many loopholes in the bill. They say the measure would probably be nearly impossible to enforce because both social networking sites rely on self-reported statistics from users, so minors can get around rules by posting a fake age.

The senator cited national statistics linking dozens of teens who have been molested by people they met through MySpace.com and declared that if owners or operators of companies fail to comply with the proposed law, they would be guilty of a misdemeanor on the first offense. A second offense would be a felony and could lead to imprisonment for one to five years, a fine up to $50,000, or both.

Incidently, the senator also won unanimous Senate approval this week, for his anti-phishing bill, which would set up penalties for people who try to scam people or steal identities via e-mail. The bill now moves to the House of Representatives and is awaiting the governor's signature to become a law.

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