State Regulation of Online Communities?

In a move that is ominous for online community operators, the Massachusetts Attorney General is pressuring MySpace to make major changes in the way it manages its members and community. (See also CNET report.) A list of the demands includes,

- Instituting an age and identity verification system;
- Equipping every MySpace page with a “Report Inappropriate Content” link;
- Responding to all reports of inappropriate content within 24 hours;
- Increasing significantly the number of employees who review images and content on the MySpace website;
- Implementing filtering technology that effectively blocks sexually explicit or violent images;
- Immediately deleting any profiles that violate MySpace’s Terms of Use Agreement and permanently banning those members from using the site;
- Immediately removing all advertisements and other MySpace sponsored content that are inappropriate for children; and
- Offering free, downloadable software that allows parents to block use of MySpace.

One of the findings of the AG’s study was that adult investigators were able to sign up as 15 year olds. Good to see Spenser is on the case… how did they think MySpace was going to prevent such activity? Online communities offer their members privacy and anonymity, and have no way of determining the exact age of a member. I work with a variety of online communities, and it’s challenging for site administrators to keep out even known problem members. There currently is no form of online identification that lets you verify the individual joining your community is who they say they are; a membership fee paid by credit card might provide limited control, but that’s imperfect and would discourage new member signups. Indeed, any form of personal verification (if it existed) would discourage many individuals from joining online communities - they value their privacy, and may want to discuss things anonymously that they wouldn’t talk about otherwise.

The other troubling aspect of these demands is the possibility of conflicting expectations and/or legislation from different states. While illegal activity can and should be prosecuted wherever it occurs, the thought of one-person forum owners having to deal with dozens of jurisdictions is ludicrous.

Having said that, this particular list of demands includes items that most community operators do as a matter of course. Few popular communities, whether they are discussion forums, review sites, or any other concept featuring user created content, could survive without an effective system for reporting and dealing with problem content.

Reading through the AG’s release, this list of demands strikes me as a purely political move. MySpace has been in the news as a hunting ground for perverts, so Reilly is seeking a way to ride the publicity wave and look like he’s getting tough with a big entity. At the moment, this is just a statement from the AG’s office, not legislation. That doesn’t mean that goofy laws can’t be introduced - remember the New Jersey legislator who wanted to make anonymous forum posts illegal?

What’s the blogosphere saying about the MySpace flap? Although it doesn’t relate directly to the Massachusetts news, Chartreuse makes an amusing comparison to the dangers of riding a bicycle. Mark the Pundit points out the inconsistency in citing the example of a predator trying to meet a 13-year old and in raising the minimum MySpace age, since a 13-year old is already prohibited from participation and would have to lie to register.

For the sake of thousands of other community operators, I hope that MySpace deals with its issues (both the real ones and those created by the press) swiftly and effectively. If they fail to do that, sooner or later we’ll have misguided legislation that won’t cut criminal activity but will create headaches for webmasters. I also hope the mainstream press reports responsibly on the issue; a month ago, I had a spate of press requests looking for MySpace-type horror stories; this may sell newspapers, but does little to foster thoughtful discussion.

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