Yahoo to Shut Chat Rooms Promoting Sex With Minors

SUNNYVALE, Calif. — Internet portal giant Yahoo announced today it is pulling the plug on any of its chat rooms that promote sex with minors.

“Kiddies who love sex,” “8 to 12 year-old girls who love men” and “Teen girls for fat older men” are just a few of the chat rooms to be axed.

Officials at Yahoo made the announcement after meeting with New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning. During a news conference today, Spitzer said an undercover officer posing as a 14-year-old girl on Yahoo! Chat recently received 35 “sexually explicit” messages in less than half-an-hour.

The decision marks the first time a large portal like Yahoo has imposed such a high-level of control over its chat rooms, and follows a decision last September by search engine MSN.com, which plans to remove all communities designated as “adult” and “mature” from its MSN Groups area by late November.

Yahoo also announced plans to create tougher restrictions on access to adult-themed chat rooms, though the company gave no indication on how it would do so.

Spitzer hinted he would be looking to other large media players in the online space to follow Yahoo’s lead.

“I don't want to generalize about other Internet providers, but we will look at them,” he said.

Copyright © 2025 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More News

JuicyAds Wins Trademark Infringement Case Against Fraudulent Domain

JuicyAds has won its World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) case against a website using a similar domain to impersonate the company's site and defraud customers.

Anissa Kate, Jordan Starr Top AEBN for Q2 of 2025

AEBN has published its top-selling stars for the second quarter of 2025, with Anissa Kate landing atop the leaderboard for straight theaters and Jordan Starr heading up the gay rankings.

AEBN Reveals Eva Maxim as Top Trans Star for Q2 of 2025

AEBN has published its top trans stars list for the second quarter of 2025, with Eva Maxim landing atop the leaderboard.

France Reinstates Age Verification Rule for EU Sites

France’s highest court, the Council of State, on Tuesday reinstated age verification rules for EU-based sites under the country’s Security and Regulation of the Digital Space (SREN) law, ruling in favor of the French government and against Hammy Media.

Whisper Fans Joins Pineapple Support as Supporter-Level Sponsor

Whisper Fans has joined the ranks of over 70 adult businesses and organizations committing funds and resources to Pineapple Support.

Utherverse Launches 'Red Light Center' Virtual World

Virtual reality and metaverse technology company Utherverse has launched its new virtual world, RedLightCenter.io.

European Commission Approves AV Guidelines, Unveils Prototype App

The European Commission on Monday released its final, approved guidelines for protecting minors online under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) and made public a “white label” age verification app intended to help sites and platforms comply with age verification rules under the DSA.

New Membership Site 'Sluts Corner' Launches

R18 Entertainment has launched a new membership site, SlutsCorner.com.

Show More