The Associated Press

Fri, May 9, 2008 (2:10 a.m.)

Officials from several states say Facebook has agreed to implement more than 40 safeguards to protect younger users.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal says the changes are designed to thwart sexual predators, fraud and online bullies at the popular online hangout.

He's one of the attorneys general who announced the agreement Thursday.

Facebook has agreed to ban convicted sex offenders from using the service and will make it harder for older users to search online for subscribers who are under age 18.

Facebook will also join a task force seeking better ways to verify the ages of users, The agreement is similar to one reached in January with Facebook's larger rival, MySpace.

Telephone messages were left Thursday at Facebook's headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif.