Do You Care About Ning Predators?

You might have noticed a few extraordinary changes on the main Ning profiles page over the last few days such as the removal of the ability to search other Ning profiles etc.
It is all to do with Ning now being put in a position of having to deal with the issue of sexual predators on Ning, especially in relation to kids.
Ning had the power to delete those Predators and Illegal Networks but did not, now a small band of us has forced them into doing something!
Please join us, help us and yourselves, find out about it, and make Ning a better place for us all.
Whilst I understand this site's rule on links etc, this is such an important issue that affects us all.

Visit The Predators Enemy

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Greywolfespirit on November 13, 2009 at 3:26pm: I dont know what they have been up to i cant even get into my own bloomin profile it sucks.

Permalink Reply by Oisin on November 13, 2009 at 4:19pm: This is why Ning did it.

Dear Oisin,

Thank you for your message. As you know, we are dedicated to making Ning safe and fun for everyone and absolutely do not tolerate any activity on our platform that is harmful to minors in any way. In fact, our Terms of Service specifically prohibit this type of thing (http://about.ning.com/tos.php).

Please know that we take this issue very seriously and as required by law, we report any such instances to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (“NCMEC”) and may alert other relevant authorities. We also work very closely with the NCMEC, ConnectSafely and The Family Online Safety Institute to ensure that the Ning Platform is a safe environment for all. Please know that although we are a small company, we have devoted significant resources into developing and now implementing tools that allow our team to quickly submit reports to NCMEC with extremely detailed information user information on each suspect. This detailed information has assisted law enforcement in bringing prosecutions against individuals involved in this activity (http://www.dailyiowan.com/2009/04/29/Metro/11278.html). We are also developing and implementing tools designed to both track and find these suspects on the platform in a much more advanced way, as well as prevent the uploading of any illegal content.

Ning’s VP and Chief Policy Officer serves on the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) new Online Safety and Technology Working Group, established under the “Protecting Children in the 21st Century Act.” This is a working group dedicated to keeping children safe on the Internet and will report its findings and make recommendations (including specifically looking at the child pornography reporting process) to Congress on how to increase online safety measures: http://www.ntia.doc.gov/press/2009/OSTWG_090428.html.

Please know that we are disabling all social networks, Network Creators and members who violate our Terms of Service. Additionally, we are working closely with the appropriate authorities to ensure that individuals engaged in this are found and prosecuted, including the local FBI. We'd be happy to put you in touch with the local FBI agents we've been working with. Please feel free to contact the authorities about social networks and content you find. However, it helps the authorities and NCMEC if you could let us know about these social networks so that we can disable them immediately. Letting us know who you contact is also helpful, so that we can include this information in the reports we will send to NCMEC. This helps NCMEC and law enforcement investigate these crimes more efficiently as our reports include the content itself and information regarding the suspects.

Finally, we wanted to make sure that you have seen our Safety Page (http://about.ning.com/safety.php) which is a great resource for educating parents and teens on how to stay safe online, including how to utilize the many safety and privacy controls available on Ning to protect their privacy. Please feel free to contact us through the Ning Help Center at help.ning.com or by emailing us directly at abuse@ning.com if you come across any content that may violate our Terms of Service.

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Thank you,
The Ning Team

Permalink Reply by JAMMINjordy! on November 13, 2009 at 3:59pm: Children aren't allowed here, so who are these predators preying on exactly? Just curious.

Permalink Reply by Oisin on November 13, 2009 at 4:06pm: They are on many Networks on Ning, that people might be members of. Just because kids are not allowed here does not mean that there are not any! Just simply be vigilant.

Permalink Reply by Celtic Goldenheart on November 13, 2009 at 4:23pm: Is this anything like Perverted Justice?
http://www.perverted-justice.com/

Permalink Reply by Oisin on November 13, 2009 at 4:47pm: Thanks for that link. We'll post it our site. Most helpful!

Permalink Reply by Starrfire Price on November 13, 2009 at 6:00pm: I understand the concern of this issue but we do not have any minors on this site, so this really is not an issue for this site but thank you for sharing this information.

All the best,
Starrfire