Manatee libraries block MySpace

The Manatee County Public Library System (Florida) has taken upon
itself the duty of blocking access to MySpace pages in the public
libraries. Administrators reviewed "behavior problems" associated with
the use of the popular social networking site and decided that MySpace
does not fit in with the library's educational mission.

This
is a bit of shortsighted censorship, to say the very least. The public
library may indeed have an educational mission, but education and
information can come from a variety of sources, including social
networking sites,. The administrators are supposedly concerned about
MySpace users who employ pretexting to lure under age patrons into
risky situations. The whole internet can be used to do that, and if the
Florida librarians are worried about it, they can easily restrict
access to patrons under a certain age by turning filters off. This
article gives one example of a man who uses MySpace as his main
communication portal with his relatives in another state. There are
many more like him, who use the site for compelling personal reasons,
or in other benign ways. The Manatee librarians should rethink their
position.