NY bars some sex offenders from "Pokemon Go," other games
ALBANY, N.Y. -- New York governor Andrew Cuomo on Monday directed a state agency to restrict sex offenders under community supervision from using "Pokémon Go" and other online games, reports CBS affiliate WBNG.
Cuomo also sent a letter to software developer Niantic, Inc. requesting the company's assistance in prohibiting sexual predators from playing the company's most popular game.
"Protecting New York's children is priority number one and, as technology evolves, we must ensure these advances don't become new avenues for dangerous predators to prey on new victims," Governor Cuomo said. "These actions will provide safeguards for the players of these augmented reality games and help take one more tool away from those seeking to do harm to our children."
The New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision has imposed a new condition of parole for the state's nearly 3,000 sex offenders under community supervision, prohibiting them from playing any internet-enabled game.
Cuomo's office said in a press release that the order was spurred by a recent report by state Senators Jeffrey Klein and Diane Savino that claimed children playing the popular augmented reality game were unknowingly steered to locations in close proximity to sex offender residences.