Senate passes bill to protect kids from predators

ALBANY — The New York State Senate has passed legislation intended to protect teenagers who use social-networking sites from online predators. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo introduced the Electronic Security and Targeting of Online Predators Act last month. It would require registered sex offenders to provide online aliases to state officials, who would share the identities with Web hangouts like MySpace.com and Facebook.com. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver also expects the measure to pass the Assembly, spokeswoman Sisa Moyo said. State law already requires offenders to provide screen names, but the new legislation would expand what they must supply and permit sharing with online services. Sites could then screen or remove offenders and notify authorities about illegal behavior. “Today’s Senate passage of my e-STOP legislation draws new protections against sexual predators on the Internet closer to reality,” Cuomo said on Feb. 12 in a written statement. “I am encouraged by the overwhelming support this vitally important bill is building.” Cuomo said he started working on the issue after lengthy discussions with FaceBook and News Corp.’s MySpace. As the state urged the sites to make changes to protect children and teens, the sites found it difficult to act without legislation in place. The Senate also passed legislation that would increase criminal penalties for using a computer to commit a sex crime against a child. On the Net: New York’s sex offender database can be found at: http://criminaljustice.state.ny.us/nsor.