(File Photo)

BEIJING, May 16 (Xinhuanet) -- Popular online social network MySpace said Tuesday it is weeding sexual predators from the youth-oriented social networking website, but insisted it is forbidden by law from revealing their identities to U.S. state attorneys general.

    On Monday, top prosecutors in eight states asked MySpace to expose convicted sex offenders who have posted their profiles on MySpace.

    The attorneys general of Georgia, Idaho, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Mississippi and New Hampshire also signed a letter to the company asking it to turn over information.

    "It is our understanding that the data from Sentinel reveals that thousands of known sex offenders have been confirmed as MySpace members," the letter from the attorneys general said.

    North Carolina Attorney Gen. Roy Cooper's office said media outlets last year reported nearly 100 criminal incidents across the country involving adults who used this portal to prey or attempt to prey on children.

    In addition to providing them with the number and names of sex offenders on MySpace, their addresses, the officials, in the letter, asked MySpace to describe the steps it has taken to warn users about sex offenders and remove their profiles.

    Officials asked the website to respond by May 29. However, they did not say what actions they would take if MySpace failed to respond adequately by the deadline.

    In December, MySpace, owned by media tycoon Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., announced it was deploying new technology from Sentinel Tech Holding Corp. that will build a database containing the names and physical descriptions of convicted sex offenders.

    According to MySpace, the technology, dubbed Sentinel Safe, helps keep sex offenders off from the site. The software was launched in early May.

(Agencies)