A new state law will force sex offenders and child predators to list their criminal status on Facebook and other social-networking sites.
The Louisiana law designed by Jeff Thompson, a Republican state representative, will expand requirements for sex offenders to include revealing their convictions on social media.
Under the new rule, sex offenders must include on their profiles that they are an offender or child predator, list the crime and the location of the conviction, their physical traits and an address of where they live.
The law is supposed to ensure that the state is doing its part to protect citizens from convicted sex offenders instead of leaving the responsibility solely to websites like Myspace and Twitter.
Mr Thompson told CNN on Tuesday: ‘I don’t want to leave in the hands of social network or Facebook administrators, “Gee, I hope someone is telling the truth,”‘
The law will take effect on 1 August.
Those sex offenders who break the law could face two to 10 years in prison without parole and with hard labor.
They would also face a fine of up to $,1000, according to the law.
Repeat violators could face up to 20 years in prison and up to a $3,000 fine.
It’s common practice in many states to require sex offenders and predators to provide authorities with email addresses and other social accounts online.
In Illinois and Texas, sex offenders can’t access social-media sites at all.
Mr Thompson told CNN he is not looking to ban offenders from the sites.
Instead, he said, ‘I’m just trying to create an expansion of the existing notice requirements.’
Source: DailyMail
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