Social networking giant MySpace.com has reached an agreement with at least 45 states — including Rhode Island — to adopt safeguards to better regulate who is able to use the site.

The News Corp.-owned Web site has agreed to a host of security changes, most of which are aimed at limiting the availability of younger members’ profile information.

Children younger than 14 are not supposed to register with the Web site, which allows people to network with other members by sharing pictures, blogs and other information.

The company has agreed to let parents submit their children’s e-mail addresses so that they cannot be used to set up accounts; making the default setting on 16- and 17-year-olds’ profiles “private,” so only their friends can see them; and responding within 72 hours to any complaints of inappropriate content.

“This is an important outcome because of the specific and quantifiable steps that MySpace has agreed to take,” Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch said in a statement. “I am confident that it will foster a safer online experience for teenagers and other young people who use MySpace.”

The agreement comes after almost two years of discussions between MySpace and attorneys general across the country about how to improve security after a number of reports of sexual predators using the Web site for contact with minors.

The company also agreed to create a task force to research ways to verify the ages and identities’ of potential registrants, and a host of more general security measures.