MySpace to Hire Safety Czar
MySpace.com plans to hire a safety czar after additional schools banned the red-hot social networking site over concerns that online predators can easily contact young people through the personal information they include in their profiles.
Safety Czar to Educate Users
In response to the backlash, MySpace plans to appoint a safety czar who will oversee the service, according to Friday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal.
The safety czar will start an educational campaign by sending letters to schools as well as circulating public service announcements to discourage children from disclosing contact information within their profiles.
MySpace may also restrict access to certain groups such as “swingers” to keep people under the age of 18 from reaching them. In addition, the site may encourage users between the ages of 14 and 18 to make their profiles private.
Mr. Taguri said his school district uses the Internet heavily in its learning labs, media center, and web-enabled student information system, but he doesn’t want to see it abused.
“The Internet is a very good source of knowledge, but some people use it in the wrong way,” he said. “We have to use the Internet as an educational tool. MySpace can be used as an educational tool if it is used the right way.”
