Sex marketplace Backpage.com seized by U.S. justice authorities: posting
Source: Reuters
April 6, 2018 / 3:55 PM / Updated 17 minutes ago
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. law enforcement agencies have seized the sex marketplace website Backpage.com as part of an enforcement action by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, according to a posting on its website on Friday.
The posting said the U.S. Justice Department would provide more information at 6 p.m. EDT. It said U.S. attorneys in Arizona and California, as well as the Justice Departments section on child exploitation and obscenity and the California and Texas attorneys general had supported the work in shutting down the website.
Lawmakers and enforcement officials have been working to crack down on the site, the second largest classified ad service in the country after Craigslist that is used primarily to sell sex.
The U.S. Senate passed legislation last month making it easier for state prosecutors and sex-trafficking victims to sue social media networks, advertisers and others that fail to keep sex trafficking and other exploitative materials off their platforms.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-backpage-justice/sex-marketplace-backpage-com-seized-by-u-s-justice-authorities-posting-idUSKCN1HD2QP?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews
That is pretty crazy.
asiliveandbreathe
(8,203 posts)Russian bots....do you suppose we caught 'I'm again??
mahatmakanejeeves
(57,607 posts)lapfog_1
(29,223 posts)many will go back to having pimps and walking the streets.
The internet provided a way for women who wanted to be in control of who they interacted with and to be independent of pimps and life on the streets a way to make money on their own.
This will not stop sex trafficking of underage or foreign girls... and does absolutely nothing to stop sex tourism (if anything many "johns" like the Donal will increase their travel to places like Thailand and the Philippines).
Yes, underage girls or boys should not be advertised on the internet... they shouldn't be on the streets either.
And no person should be "forced" or "coerced" in any way to go into sex work (doesn't have to be prostitution, strippers and porn stars are sex workers too).
But closing down all of the internet "escort" sites is not the right answer.
obnoxiousdrunk
(2,910 posts)melman
(7,681 posts)You do realize many sex workers agree with that view, don't you?
lapfog_1
(29,223 posts)and unionized sex workers in San Francisco and many many others.
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,040 posts)Blue_Adept
(6,402 posts)And it's putting them into some precarious positions at best. Things that they could do safely are now suddenly illegal, such as use of skype, etc. Not a good situation.
Wwcd
(6,288 posts)About time advertisers & social media networks are called out.
Human trafficking is another mob related money laundering international crime.
Like the modelling industry.
Shipwack
(2,171 posts)Pushing sex workers back onto the street makes it -harder- to find human traffickers, and makes it harder to find and prosecute pimps and those involved in organized crime.
Sex workers are now discouraged from tipping off the police, and law enforcement officers can more easily exploit sex workers.
inanna
(3,547 posts)27 mins ago
Much of Backpage's U.S. site appears to still be operational, though there are takedown notices on some regional pages. The Justice Department did not immediately respond when asked for comment.
...
A Senate panel last year accused the site of enabling sex trafficking after a lengthy investigation.
Their findings led to a controversial piece of legislation that would make it easier to target websites with legal action for content posted by third parties. The bill passed the House and Senate overwhelmingly this year and is awaiting President Trump's signature.
DEVELOPING
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/feds-apparently-seize-controversial-classified-ad-site-backpagecom/ar-AAvz0nq
left-of-center2012
(34,195 posts)I had a friend (50ish guy) in California, now deceased from a heart attack,
who would hook up with like minded adult guys for casual sex.
They "met" via Craigslist, which has now stopped 'personals' ads.
Not saying I approve or disapprove,
but it worked for them.
inanna
(3,547 posts)The snippets in the OP indicate this is primarily about sex trafficking - of both children and adults.
left-of-center2012
(34,195 posts)Guess my question addressed more "personal ads" on Craigslist
which are no longer available to consenting adults.
melman
(7,681 posts)There's a reason the government frames it like that.
Dopers_Greed
(2,640 posts)flibbitygiblets
(7,220 posts)LeftInTX
(25,555 posts)Parents worked for years to get it shut down.
Finally....