Amidst the saber rattling by politicians two studies find that social networking sites are safer than is commonly believed. The Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire found that unwanted online solicitations have decreased from 19 percent in 1999 to 13 percent currently.

Out of the unwanted solicitations that were received, 43 percent were initiated by other minors, not from adults.

Another study of MySpace by Dr. Larry D. Rosen at Cal State revealed that only 7 percent of teens that were interviewed had encountered an unwanted solicitation on MySpace. The majority ignored the person and blocked them from their page.

The U.S. House and Senate is considering The Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA) which would cut funding to public schools and libraries if they did not block access to social networking sites.

If DOPA passes its reach has the potential to go beyond restricting access to social networking sites and could include IM, blogs, discussion forums and other sites.

Adam Thierer, from the Progress and Freedom Foundation believes that blocking all social networking sites is not a wise move because under the current definition sites such as Wikipedia, CBS Sportsline and Flickr would be subject to blocks.

Thierer suggests that the answer is not stricter controls, but to use the tools that are already in place in the offline world to protect children such as education, law enforcement and adult supervision.

Wikipedia isn’t commercial? Yeah, right.

By the way, Ryan and Kevin’s blog post doesn’t have a link to the bill’s text that works. Anyone have a link that works? Post it in my comments. Thanks!

UPDATE: WebProNews has a similar point in "DOPA Jr. Is Not A Wikipedia Ban" which includes more details on what the bill actually does.

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About the Author

Robert Scoble is the founder of the Scobleizer blog. He works as PodTech.net’s Vice President of Media Development.

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This isn’t a defense of one of the most dangerous senators on Capitol Hill, just a plea to call it like it is. His term’s up in ’08, by the way.

DOPA, or the Deleting Online Predators Act was introduced into the House in 2006 by Pennsylvania Republican Mike Fizpatrick, who lost his reelection bid. The bill, which sought to block access to social networking sites in federally-funded schools and libraries, died in the Senate.

When Stevens tacked on an amendment to the Telecommunications Act of 1934, with which I’m sure he’s familiar ever since those lively debates back in junior high (he’s old), the Stevens-leery public immediately called it a DOPA rebirth. Title II is even called "Deleting Online Predators."

This leads to headlines saying Stevens wants to ban Wikipedia from schools and libraries, and other apparent exaggerations. Unless there’s something I’m missing, the language of the bill doesn’t call for any outright bans. It calls for adult guidance. The definition of social networking sites, as defined in the bill, is vague enough to include, possibly, Wikipedia, but even then, there are concessions made as to its use.

The bill requires that libraries protect "against access by minors without parental authorization to a commercial social networking website or chat room, and informs parents that sexual predators can use these websites and chat rooms to prey on children."

Okay, so librarians need a note from home. Not a ban, though.

The bill requires that schools protect " against access to a commercial social networking website or chat room unless used for an educational purpose with adult supervision."

Okay again, so Wikipedia is allowed as long as the teacher’s in the room and its used for learning. Still not a ban.

That’s good news for librarians and teachers. Fretting over DOPA last year, the Young Adult Library Services Association compiled a list of 30 positive effects of social networking, and why it’s good for libraries. Judging by the last few sentences of that report, there is concern that our legislators don’t really understand the modern world.

…it remains important for librarians and others working and advocating for (and with) teens to continue to educate members of their communities about the real aspects of technology in teen lives. It’s important not to automatically buy into the hype. It’s also important to learn about and try the technologies in order to understand exactly what they do and do not do.

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The heightened concern over sexual predation on social networking sites is the driving force behind the legislation proposed by Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick, called the Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA).

“When children leave the home and go to school or the public library and have access to social-networking sites, we have reason to be concerned,” Fitzpatrick told CNet.

(When Congress considers laws abridging freedom of speech, the citizens have reason to be concerned.)

Aurally-appropriate DOPA would block websites that allow users to create webpages and profiles, offer discussion boards, chat rooms, instant messaging and email services. This of course affects not just MySpace.com, but also Google, AOL, Yahoo, Microsoft, and Friendster, among many others.

Fitzpatrick’s bill, the brainchild of a group of representatives calling itself the “Suburban Caucus,” is said by CNet to be a “poll driven effort.”

From the two-page CNet article:

“That’s a broad category that covers far more than social-networking sites such as Friendster and Google’s Orkut.com. It would also sweep in a wide range of interactive Web sites and services, including Blogger.com, AOL and Yahoo’s instant-messaging features, and Microsoft’s Xbox 360, which permits in-game chat.

Fitzpatrick’s bill…is part of a new, poll-driven effort by Republicans to address topics that they view as important to suburban voters.”

For a PDF of the proposed legislation click here.