Yahoo Praised for Shutting Down Chat Rooms that Contained Sexual Material

Yahoo Inc. is being praised by family advocacy groups after closing user-created chat rooms in the wake of a TV news report revealing that some were allegedly used to prey on children.

YahooYahoo has been under pressure to remove chat rooms that were allegedly being used in to lure minors into sexual encounters with adults. The company shut down all of their chat rooms after advertisers such as State Farm Insurance, PepsiCo Inc. and Georgia-Pacific Corp. removed their ads from Yahoo's domain.

Yahoo's decision comes after a $10 million lawsuit was filed by the parents of a 12-year-old molestation victim and building pressure from watchdog groups trying to convince the Internet company to crack down on their chat rooms.

Yahoo's critics suggest that the company didn't remove the material until faced with the potential financial loss from the civil suit and the loss of major advertisers.

Legal council for the Christian group Family Research Council Patrick Truman told the AP, "I'm glad a suit has finally been brought because it will give someone access to the way Yahoo operates," Truman said. "Records can now be subpoenaed that will show the kind of knowledge Yahoo has about the trade of child pornography in its chat rooms."

Yahoo has been under fire in the past for allegedly hosting child pornography. An FBI investigation in 2002 lead to the shut down of a Yahoo Group called Candyman after it was revealed that child pornography was being traded by members. The Yahoo Group, similar to a chat room, allows members to access private Web pages and communicate via e-mail. Candyman was online for two months before being shut down.

The lawsuit against Yahoo was filed by the parents of a 12-year-old boy that was the victim of child molestation. The suit claims that photographs of the criminal sex acts were hosted on Candyman. Yahoo has until July to respond to the claims.