LiveJournal and Fotolog have joined the growing list of social-networking websites using a New York State database that aims to block the sharing of child pornography images, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced Tuesday.
Using what is called a hash value database, the websites can filter out files containing child pornography before they end up on their site. The sites already using the database of more than 8,000 images include Facebook and MySpace, Friendster, hi5 and isoHunt. Cuomo is also trying to get at least nine other popular websites on board.
Hash values are like fingerprints, explained Rich Bamberger, spokesman for the attorney general. “We have created a database of the fingerprints of child porn images,” he said. “The social-networking sites are now agreeing to take the database of all the fingerprints and use them basically as a filter.”
LiveJournal and Fotolog both released statements in support of the initiative, as did Stony Brook-based Parents for Megan’s Law and the Crime Victim’s Center.
“It’s an ongoing process because the list is always changing,” Cuomo said at a news conference at the Jericho Middle School library.
He also urged parents and caregivers to play active roles in their children’s online lives.
“Know what your kids are doing on that Internet,” Cuomo said. “You do have a right to know—it’s your parental responsibility.”
Parents should learn about parental controls, ask their children which websites they are looking at, and even check the Internet’s browsing history, he said. “We’re trying to make the Internet safer for users.”
If children argue that parents are invading their privacy, Cuomo said to invoke “bologna.”
“The bologna legal concept is a valid legal concept,” he joked. “Call me! I will argue this case with your child.”