New Law: Parent's Permission Required For Myspace/Facebook Account
CHICAGO (WBBM) -- Under a new proposal in Springfield, kids would have to have a parent's permission to create a profile on popular social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook.
WBBM's Regine Schlesinger reports that's one provision of a package aimed at making those websites safer for children.
Representative Tom Cross, the Illinois House republican leader, says the bipartisan effort builds on laws passed last year. The new provisions would place a greater burden on the sites' operators, requiring them to verify the age of a minor and get written permission from a parent before a minor can create a profile.
The sponsors also want parents to be able to access their child's profile.
It would make it a felony for a registered sex offender to access the profile of a minor and perhaps even to go on those websites at all. Representative Cross acknowledges the difficulty of regulating the internet but says, we have to take a shot at better protecting children.
He says several other states are looking into similar measures. He thinks the package has a good chance of passing in the Illinois general assembly.
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