The latest complaint to social-networking site MySpace comes from city officials in Houston, Texas, who claim that MySpace pages are being used to glorify killers.
While MySpace's concept for socially-networking online appears to be a good thing, some site members choose to abuse the concept of the community.
There have been numerous complaints made by parents regarding deviants using the site as a means to communicate with young children, as well as complaints of school children using it as a tool for gossip.
Add to the list of complainants Houston's director of the city's crime victim's office, Andy Kahan. Kahan recently wrote to MySpace complaining that friends and family members of death row inmates were creating MySpace pages for them as a kind of tribute.
According to the Associated Press, Kahan wrote "Is it within your policy to allow the glorification of killers by giving them a platform to influence young minds? Are there specific guidelines within MySpace that would prohibit giving convicted felons a platform for all the world to see?"
In a report by CBN News, it was found that MySpace was one of the most popular sites for teenagers to visit, and they are not the only ones; there over 100 million registered MySpace users to date. Given those facts, it would seem that Kahan is justified in suspecting that the pages could influence young minds.
Typical MySpace pages include the interests, hobbies, favorite music, movies, and books, along with other personal details of the user's page.
The pages for death row inmates were obviously not created by actual inmates themselves, but rather close friends and family. Kahan worries that the inmate's pages are glorifying them and may generate sympathy among viewers of the pages.
MySpace pages would give the world a window into the life of an inmate through the biased eyes of loved ones, perhaps softening the inmate and making them more likable.
While there is a fine line between freedom of speech and taste, the pages are not illegal. Surely there are many profiles on MySpace that individuals wish to see removed due to inappropriate content, but how would MySpace choose which profiles to censor? Certainly no criteria could please everyone; offensive profiles would still exist.
There is really no way for MySpace to determine how they would censor profiles on their site; most criteria would simply be a matter of opinion.
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