July 27, 2006

Pryce: House Acts to Delete Online Predators

WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Deborah Pryce (R-Columbus) today voted in favor of the Deleting Online Predators Act, another important piece of legislation of the House Suburban Agenda Caucus, of which Pryce is a member.  

“With all of society’s technological advances, it has now become second nature for children and teenagers to conduct their personal communication with friends online, filter free,” Pryce said.  “While our children may feel what they are typing seems insignificant, to an online predator it is a treasure of information that can help determine where children go to school, their likes and dislikes, and where they reside.  Recent reports have shown countless instances of adults who inappropriately contact minors through the Internet, often anonymously, to obtain personal information and pictures and solicit sexual acts.

“As a parent, this is scary and clearly shows that cyberspace has become a dangerous place for our kids.  We need to find ways to allow parents to be involved in monitoring what their children do on the Internet when they are not under their supervision at home.  This legislation is an important step in the right direction to help keep our children out of harm’s way and create a way to keep parents and school officials up-to-date on potential dangers on the Internet.”

The Deleting Online Predators Act of 2006 (H.R. 5319)

• Requires schools that receive federal universe service funding to prevent the access of children to a chat room or social networking website.  Schools may disable protection measures in order to allow use by students with adult supervision for educational purposes, or by adults. 
• Requires libraries that receive federal universe service funding to prevent the access of children without parental authorization to a chat room or social networking website.
• Requires the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to create a website and issue consumer alerts to inform parents, teachers, and school officials about the potential dangers on the Internet, specifically online sexual predators and their ability to contact children through social networking sites and chat rooms.