MySpace has announced new restrictions that will keep users 18 or over from requesting to be added to a 14- or 15-year-old’s friends list unless they already know the youth’s email address or full name. Currently, the site only allows for the partial display of profiles belonging to 14- or 15-year-olds unless the person attempting to view the profile is already on the teen’s friend list. Kids 13 and under are forbidden from setting up accounts. Any user will maintain the ability to get a partial profile of a younger user (gender, age, city). Still, MySpace doesn’t have any technology in place to verify the information provided in user profiles, so users can still lie about their ages.
“Even with the new system, there are no restrictions on people who lie about their ages,” CBSNews.com Technology Analyst Larry Magid told the AP. “If an adult says they’re 16, they can request to be a friend of a 14- or 15-year-old, Unfortunately they still don’t have reliable age verification.”
Talk: Are sites like MySpace and Facebook really dangerous for youth?
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