Craigslist crackdown continues
By John Lister
Craigslist is coming under increasing pressure from state officials over its carrying of ‘erotic services’ ads. Management from the site have met with attorneys general of three states, while another has demanded it close the relevant section.
The pressure follows complaints last year initiated by Connecticut attorney general Richard Blumenthal. He argued that direct adverts for prostitutes were illegal in the state and, joined by attorneys general from 39 other states, persuaded the site to insist anyone posting in the erotic services category provided a verified credit card and phone number. This would theoretically make it easier for authorities to trace any poster suspected of committing an offense.
After the recent arrest and charging of a man accused of murdering a woman he met through the erotic services section, the heat came back down on Craigslist. The company’s lawyers met attorneys general from Connecticut, Illinois and Missouri yesterday, with Illinois’ Lisa Madigan demanding the erotic services section be shut down completely, dubbing it “nothing more than an Internet brothel”.
Her South Carolina counterpart Henry McMaster has now written to Craigslist demanding that it remove “the portions of the Internet site dedicated to South Carolina and its municipal regions which contain categories for and functions allowing for the solicitation of prostitution and the dissemination and posting of graphic pornographic material ” within 10 days or face the risk of prosecution. He accuses the site of failing to live up to last year’s agreement.
Craigslist notes that “we see no legal basis whatsoever for filing a lawsuit against Craigslist or its principals and hope that the Attorney General will realize this upon further reflection” and claims ‘misuse’ of the site is down 90 percent in the past six months.
The site now charges a $5 fee for posts in the section (mainly for the purpose of collecting credit card details) and says this money will be donated to a charity.
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