Will forcing registration of e-mail addresses stop pedophiles?
The UK has adopted a new policy in which registered sex offenders will be required to “provide their email addresses to police in a move to stop them using social networking Web sites.”
I totally get the intent here, which is of course to keep stalkers and pedophiles off of MySpace and other social networks, creating a safer online environment for kids. But will forcing e-mail registration with the government really prevent such people from striking again, beyond being a minor deterrent?
Does the UK government realize how easy it is to get a new, free e-mail address, or several thousand of them? That even though someone’s home computer IP can be tracked, they can go to a library or Internet café to carry on such activities?
The policy is backed up by “five years in prison if they fail to hand over the details or provide a false email.” However, if a registered sex offender is taking the risk to get on MySpace to lure youngsters into their nasty grasp, aren’t they already taking an enormous risk already? In essence an additional penalty for using a registered (or unregistered) e-mail address seems to be pretty small in comparison.
So it’s really more of a PR move to make it look like the government is doing something to police the interwebs. Understandable but not effective.
This brings up larger issues too about how you limit the rights of some citizens – sex offenders in this case – in a free society. But I would need a lot more coffee on this Friday morning to get into that one!
Update: The New York Times chimes in: “The proposal faces many hurdles, including the fact that anyone can instantly create a new e-mail address online and that Facebook, MySpace and most other popular social networking sites are based outside Britain.”
