A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.

Cuomo Accuses Tagged.com Of Keeping Pervs On The Site

Published Jun 11, 2010

Modified Jun 11, 2010

We rely on your support to make local news available to all

Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2025. Donate today

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo hit social networking company Tagged.com with a "notice of his intent to sue the company for failing to protect children from being exposed to graphic images of child pornography." A press release from his office notes that Tagged, which is aimed at teenagers, claims to be dedicated to "child safety and responsiveness to complaints," but an investigation found Tagged was slow to respond to complaints of "graphic images of children being sexually abused, inappropriate sexual communications between adults and minors, and content that advocates pedophilia." Ugh.

Here are the examples of content that Tagged left online, though "undercover users" from Cuomo's office complained:

A user profile with a slideshow of children, some of whom appear to be younger than five years of age, in sexually explicit poses, exposing their genitals, and engaged in sex acts with other children. Tagged was informed of this content on April 17, 2010.
A user profile with photos of an adult performing oral sex on a girl who appears to be younger than 10 years old. Tagged was informed of this content on May 27, 2010.
An extremely graphic image of a girl who appears to be younger than 10 years old involving bestiality. Tagged was also informed of this content on May 27, 2010.

Cuomo said yesterday, "Parents should ask their children tonight, I believe, 'Do you go to this site? Do you go to Tagged.com?' Parents have to ask and if you're as old as I am, I know its generational, you're not proficient on the technology you can ask the questions -- 'Are you going to this site?' This is a dangerous site for them to go to." And Tagged issued a statement, "We are working closely and cooperatively with Attorney General Cuomo's office and hope to resolve this quickly in the best interest of our members' safety. At Tagged, we strive constantly to improve our program to keep illegal content out and prevent unlawful contact between adults and minors on our site. The safety of our members is a top priority."

Cuomo previously complained about Tagged's spammy ways.