It seems that the social networking website MySpace has taken up the cudgel to curb the sex offenders. Beverly Hills, California based MySpace, on Tuesday, handed over the list of 90,000 registered sex offenders that have been banned from the site, to the two state attorneys general, responding to a subpoena.

According to the enforcement officials, the social networking site provided the names of about 90,000 sex offenders, which have been identified and removed from the site, but the thing that has surprised them most is that the number is 40,000 more than, nearly double the figure that was previously admitted by MySpace.

Leading the campaign to make social networking sites safer for tender users, the North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper and the Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal stated that MySpace previously identified about 50,000 sex offenders, but the new figure released Tuesday are alarming.

In a statement, Mr. Blumenthal, who is calling the networking sites to apply stricter safety measures, said, “Almost 100,000 convicted sex offenders mixing with children on MySpace — shown by our subpoena — is absolutely appalling and totally unacceptable….For every one of them, there may be hundreds of others using false names and ages.”

Shocked by the updated numbers, Cooper stated that they have directed MySpace and Facebook, which attract over 280 million visitors jointly, to take more stern steps to protect children and teenagers. "These sites were created for young people to communicate with each other. Predators are going to troll in these areas where they know children are going to be. That's why these social networking sites have the responsibility to make their sites safe for children," Cooper said.

In the wake of criticisms that the sites were not doing enough to safeguard minors from sexual predators, MySpace and Facebook got into agreement last year that they would beef up their security measures.

Chief Security Officer of MySpace, Hemanshu Nigam confirmed that they have removed all the 90,000 identified sex offenders from the site. Exlpaining their way of working, Nigam stated that the company keeps a strict watch on the new offenders, on daily basis, and when ever they identify a sex offender, they close its user account and provide the info to law enforcement officials. 

In a statement, Chris Kelly, the chief privacy officer of the Palo Alto, California based Facebook, which is yet to release its figure on sex offenders, said, "We've been working productively with Atty. Gen. Blumenthal's office for more than three years on these issues." 

Commenting on the entire campaign, Roy Cooper said, "Our law enforcement officers investigating these cases tell us that predators are soliciting children on the Internet and in social networking sites. We're working to provide more law enforcement to protect our kids, but social networking sites and technology companies must do their part as well."