Yahoo! shuts door on dodgy chatrooms

Yahoo! has pulled the plug on user-created chat rooms in the US with apparent child sex content after major advertisers withdrew their ads.

The change of heart came after an exposé by a Houston TV station which revealed Yahoo! was hosting chat rooms with titles including Girls 13 And Under for Older Guys and 9-17-Year Olds Wantin' Sex. The TV station found chat from men seeking children for sex.

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On Friday last week Yahoo! stopped users from creating their own chat rooms. A statement on the site said the service was unavailable while Yahoo! worked on improvements and on making it compliant with Yahoo's terms of service.

The exposéled several companies to withdraw their advertising from Yahoo! The company is also facing a $10m lawsuit for hosting the chatrooms.