Palo Alto, CA (AHN) - Facebook and almost 50 states have agreed of measures to protect young Internet users from bullying or harassment. The social-networking site said it will among other steps, ban convicted sexual offenders, limit the ability to search for underage users and continue studying how to improve ID and age verification.

"The agreement marks another watershed step toward social networking safety," Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said, according to the AP. Facebook's privacy chief Chris Kelly said online safety has always been a goal for the site.

The agreement with Washington and 49 states follows months of negotiations. Texas, which wants a better method of verifying user information, did not sign the pact.