By Truman Lewis
ConsumerAffairs.com
May 3, 2010
A coalition of 39 state attorneys general charges that Craigslist continues to display blatant prostitution ads in its "adult services" section and elsewhere on its popular Web site. The AGs are supporting a wide-ranging subpoena that seeks access to the company's records.
The subpoena was issued by Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who said the "Craigslist brothel business seems booming -- belying its promise to fight prostitution.
The best evidence is thousands of ads that remain on Craigslist -- skimpily and slickly disguised with code words," Blumenthal said. In November 2009, Blumenthal and other AGs wrested an agreement from Craigslist, which agreed to shut down its "erotic services" section and relaunch it as an "adult services" category, with stricter enforcement of rules and higher fees.
But Blumenthal charges that the higher fees have accomplished little, except to increase Craigslist's revenue. He cited recent news media reports that Craigslist may be profiting "in the tens of millions" from prostitution ads, rather than turning over the ad proceeds to charity, as it promised in 2008.
"If it is breaking its promises to the public, it may be breaking the law," Blumenthal said. "The truly dangerous and darkest side of these ads is their potential to enable and even encourage human trafficking and child exploitation. This lucrative online red light district has real victims -- women and children virtually entrapped and exploited."
It's not clear, though, what action, if any, Craigslist is legally required to take. At the time of the 2009 agreement, Kurt Opfahl, staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, noted that existing law provides immunity to services such as Craigslist for actions taken by users. However, he said law enforcement officials can subpoena companies like craigslist for user information such as phone and credit card numbers.
Might be evil?
In an April 29 blog posting, Craiglist CEO Jim Buckmaster rejected demands from Twitter users that Craigslist shut down its adult services section.
Buckmaster said the Twitter campaign was similar to the reasoning of "at least one" attorney general who he said has "essentially demanded that all of Craiglist personal be shut down."
Buckmaster said the reasoning behind the demands is that casual sex is "evil" and that, therefore, Craigslist personal are evil and should be shut down.
"We will continue to work with our partners in law enforcement and advocacy groups, and reach out to potential new ones, as we strive to do the best job we can in combating human trafficking, while preserving the full-fledged classifieds (complete with all of the free personals categories) that CL users (and the general public) want and deserve," Buckmaster said.
The subpoena to Craigslist seeks, among other things:
• All documents describing the manual review process used to review potentially objectionable advertisements, including the total number of employees assigned to such review, and the number of advertisements eliminated or rejected as a result of these procedures;
• Information about each advertisement eliminated, rejected or the subject of law enforcement communication;
• Communications from law enforcement regarding advertisements involving or relating to suspected illegal activity and Craigslists steps in response;
• All documents substantiating Craigslists claim that recently implemented new proprietary technical measures designed to further reduce the volume of inappropriate ads in the personals section*have eliminated the majority of inappropriate ads in the casual encounters subsection, and have, in fact reduced the total volume of all ads in that section by approximately 50%.
• All documents describing Craigslists telephone verification system for its erotic services or adult services sections, including the total number of ads eliminated or rejected as a result of these procedures;
• All documents relating to the permanent blocking by Craigslist of telephone numbers due to the posting of unlawful or inappropriate advertisements, including the total number of accounts blocked;
• All documents describing the credit card verification procedures used to block the accounts of persons who violate Craigslists terms of use, including the total number of accounts blocked as a result of these procedures;
• All documents relating to communications between Craigslist and any persons, companies, or other entities which offer or sell services and/or software designed to facilitate circumvention of Craigslists terms of use.
• All documents relating to the contribution of 100 percent of the net revenues from the sale of advertisements in Craigslists erotic services or adult services category, including, but not limited to any decisions to limit or cease such contributions.
