March 6, 2008
MySpace Unveils New Partnerships, PSAs and Website for Online Safety
MySpace Unveils New Public Service Announcement, Partnerships and Web Site to Help Protect Users and Promote Online Safety
Thursday, March 06, 2008; Posted: 03:00 PM LOS ANGELES, (BUSINESS WIRE)
As part of its ongoing commitment to safety, MySpace today launched a new Internet safety public service announcement, partnerships with nonprofit organizations and web site to promote online safety awareness among parents, educators and teens.
"MySpace is stepping-up our safety education efforts," said Hemanshu Nigam, MySpace's chief security officer. "We believe that parents are the first line of defense when it comes to protecting teens in the offline and online worlds, and they should have as many educational resources as possible to safeguard their families."
Key components include, the launch of MySpace's new online safety PSA, partnerships with influential nonprofit organizations, and the development of a MySpace safety web site.
Partnerships:
MySpace joined with iKeepSafe to release a broadcast PSA geared at encouraging parents to talk with teens about their Internet use and help them to make smart decisions to be safe online. Parents are equipped with the know-how and ability to talk with their teens about appropriate and safe behavior, and now need to extend these conversations to online activities. The "Don't Stop the Dialogue" PSA includes 10, 15 and 30 second video spots and was unveiled during a keynote address by Hemanshu Nigam at the California Cyber Safe Summit in Burbank, California. The PSA will air over the course of the next two months across Fox broadcast and cable networks and was produced by BIG FUEL.
MySpace has also teamed up with iKeepSafe to develop an interactive flash tutorial designed to help parents understand the Internet, social networking and MySpace. The tutorial covers topics such as, social networking 101, how to set-up a MySpace profile, searching and blogging. The tutorial will run on www.iKeepSafe.org and www.MySpace.com and will be distributed through a variety of educational mediums.
"Through this partnership and the development of these tools we are able to provide millions of parents, educators and teens with the necessary resources to create a healthy dialogue around Internet safety," said Marsali Hancock, President, IKeepSafe. "Education about online safety is critical to keeping our teens safe across the Internet."
MySpace has also partnered with Enough is Enough to develop an Internet Safety 101®: Empowering Parents program that is uniquely designed to reach parents through several different channels including, websites, partner programs, media campaigns, Internet safety seminars, training programs and multimedia resources.
MySpace Safety Web Site:
In addition, as part of ongoing efforts to keep MySpace.com updated with current Internet safety information MySpace has updated and revamped the site to provide all audiences with important safety resources. Accessible from the 'Safety Tips' link at the bottom of every MySpace page or at http://www.myspace.com/safety, the site was developed to help parents, educators, and teens learn about safe online behavior. The safety site's content is tailored for each audience to help them navigate online communities safely through practical and easy-to-use safety tips, software and expert resources, guides, and "how-to" videos.
MySpace is committed to the safety of all its users and consistently develops unique safety features and technologies on the site, engages in partnerships with safety organizations and law enforcement, and supports effective legislation that will help MySpace facilitate, build and continue the growth of online safety tools, education and research. The new features announced today are an extension of, and in addition to, previous initiatives and safety-focused tools. For additional information, please visit http://www.myspace.com/safety.
About MySpace
MySpace, a unit of Fox Interactive Media Inc., is the premier lifestyle portal for connecting with friends, discovering popular culture, and making a positive impact on the world. By integrating web profiles, blogs, instant messaging, e-mail, music streaming, music videos, photo galleries, classified listings, events, groups, college communities, and member forums, MySpace has created a connected community. As the first ranked web domain in terms of page views (a), MySpace is the most widely-used and highly regarded site of its kind and is committed to providing the highest quality member experience. MySpace will continue to innovate with new features that allow its members to express their creativity and share their lives, both online and off. MySpace's international network includes localized community sites in the United States, France, Germany, Australia, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Mexico, Switzerland, Austria, Canada, Netherlands, New Zealand, Japan, Sweden, Latin America, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Brazil and the United Kingdom. Fox Interactive Media is a division of News Corp. (NYSE:NWS) (NYSE:NWS.A) (ASX:NWS) (ASX:NWSLV).
(a) Among the top 2000 domains comScore Media Metrix, December 2007. For more information on comScore Networks, please go to http://www.comscore.com
About the Internet Keep Safe Coalition (www.iKeepSafe.org)
The Internet Keep Safe Coalition is a broad partnership of governors, first spouses or attorneys general from all 50 states, the FBI, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, the NEA, National PTA and corporate sponsors, dedicated to keeping children safe online. The Coalition provides parent tutorials and educational resources, including the Faux Paw the Techno CatTM Internet safety series of books and animated films for children. Coalition materials are distributed throughout the United States with pilot programs launching this year in China, India and Australia.
About Enough Is Enough® (www.enough.org)
Enough Is Enough® (EIE), a non-partisan, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, emerged in 1994 as the national leader in the effort to make the Internet safer for children and families through employing a three-pronged, preventative approach by: (1) raising public awareness of the threat of illegal pornography, sexual predation and other online threats; (2) encouraging the technology industry to implement viable technological solutions and family-friendly corporate policy to reduce online threats; and, (3) promoting legal solutions by calling for aggressive enforcement of existing laws and enactment of new laws to stop the exploitation and victimization of children using the Internet. EIE has pioneered efforts to educate, empower and equip parents and other childcare givers and sustain a protected age of innocence for our children online by leveraging its expertise, growing national partnership network, and positive reputation among the public, media, Congress, law enforcement, Internet industry, Internet safety organizations and the faith-based community. EIE recently launched Internet Safety 101®: Empowering Parents, a chapter-segmented edu-training video series, which equips and empowers parents, guardians and educators to protect their homes and families from Internet dangers through delivering a dynamic message about Internet threats and safety solutions to include: victim testimonials, guidelines from enforcement/field experts and tips and tools from Industry leaders. The Internet Safety 101® training video series and accompanying workbook will also enable individuals or groups or any size to host Internet safety training seminars; resources and materials will be targeted directly into the homes and hands of parents nationwide through traditional, grassroots, affinity-based and distribution partnerships, online and multimedia resources, through ongoing partnerships with the Department of Justice and other Private Sector support. EIE President, Donna Rice Hughes served on the Child Online Protection Act (COPA) Commission and co-chaired the COPA Hearings on technical solutions to protect children online.
SOURCE: MySpace
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for MySpace Tracy Akselrud, 310-969-2813 takselrud@myspace.com