Popular online social network MySpace said on Tuesday it has identified, removed and blocked "a few thousand" user profiles of convicted sex offenders.

The move is part of the company's program to protect its young members from adult predators.

The action comes a day after eight U.S. attorneys general demanded that the News Corp. -owned company hand over offenders' names and addresses, and delete their profiles from among MySpace's 175 million user base.

MySpace has come under attack over the past year after some of its young members fell prey to adult predators posing as minors. The families of several teenage girls sexually assaulted by MySpace members sued the service in January for failing to safeguard its young members.

MySpace and background verification company Sentinel Tech Holdings Corp. said late last year they planned to develop the first U.S. national database of convicted sex offenders to make it easier to keep track of predators.

The company also vowed to give free access of the database to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, a group which helps law enforcement in their investigations.

Myspace is still working on a more efficient system to provide updates of information on offenders deleted from the site to the missing kids group.