In an announcement earlier today, the Nebraska and New York State Attorney’s General issued a statement regarding their collaboration with Yahoo in the removal of user-created chat rooms promoting pedophilia.
Yahoo spokesperson Mary Osako responded saying, “Yahoo! has been pleased to work cooperatively with the Nebraska and New York State Attorneys General to further enhance Yahoo! Chat for our users and educate consumers regarding online safety.
“This is part of a broader initiative that Yahoo! has been undertaking, including the suspension of creating user rooms in Yahoo! Chat. These efforts are consistent with and build upon our long-standing commitment to providing a safer and more secure online experience for consumers. In addition to the voluntary efforts announced today, Yahoo! is taking further steps to enhance user safety by restricting Yahoo! Chat to users 18 and older and removing the Teen category.
“Yahoo! will continue to strongly support law enforcement in their work, as well as continue to provide support for several non-profit organizations committed to online safety.”
Yahoo has been dealing with this issue for some time now since it originally surfaced, even to the point of lawsuits, back in the summer. Yahoo faced a $10 million lawsuit filed on behalf of 12-year-old molestation victim. This is a concerted effort on the part of Yahoo to keep the pedophiles out of their search rooms. One could not help but notice, however, much of the effort to rein in these chat rooms didn’t really start until it started affecting their ad revenues.
John Stith is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
