Connecticut ’s Attorney General is leading a group that wants to place restrictions on social networking websites. Richard Blumenthal, along with Democratic and Republican leaders of the General Law Committee introduced a bill on Wednesday to do just that. Their legislation calls for social networking websites like MySpace, Xanga and others to verify users’ ages, obtain parental consent to post profiles of minors, and allow parents access to their children’s pages. The issues will put before a public hearing on Thursday.

Under the proposal, sites that fail to verify ages and fail to obtain parental permission to post profiles of users under 18 face civil penalties of up to $5,000 per violation.

The legislation also allows individuals to bring private lawsuits. Information about parents would be checked and parents would be contacted directly when necessary.

General Law Co-Chairmen state Sen. Thomas Colapietro (D-Bristol), and state Rep. Christopher Stone (D-East Hartford), with ranking members state Sen. Sam Caligiuri (R-Waterbury) and state Rep. Leonard Greene (R-Beacon Falls), also joined Blumenthal in endorsing the measure.

“Strong interest in this measure was expressed to me by other Attorneys General at our national meeting yesterday. In Connecticut, at least six alleged sexual assaults involving older men and underage girls have been tied to MySpace in the last year. There have been dozens of similar arrests nationwide.” said Blumenthal

Blumenthal also added, “Parents are the first and last line of defense against sexual predators and other social networking site dangers. This measure empowers parents - enabling them to decide whether their children put profiles on sites. Social networking sites must obtain parental permission to post a minor’s profile, assuring parents have the final say. This provision sends a powerful message: Respect the right and role of parents to restrict their children in social networking.”

Greene said, “Parents are rightfully concerned that the internet ‘friends’ their children may be meeting and chatting with online could very well be sexual predators who use websites like MySpace as virtual stalking grounds. Most of these websites make only minimal efforts to ensure website users are who they say they are. Our bill will require them to take reasonable precautions to protect children against sexual predators and other undesirables without infringing on anyone’s constitutional rights.”

Blumenthal is helping lead a coalition of 44 states asking MySpace and its parent company, News Corp., to institute age verification and make other changes to better shield minors from sexual predators and inappropriate material. Members of the group also have met with other social networking web sites, such as Xanga and Facebook, about better protecting minors.