Craigslist removed access to the Adult Services section of its site in the United States today. Although Craigslist has not verified that the change is permanent, is this a hopeful sign of things to come for the website that has been reputed to be a popular forum for sex trafficking?From the Wall Street Journal blog:
By Geoffrey A. Fowler
The Adult Services section of Craigslist has been removed and replaced with the word “censored” since Friday night.
It wasn’t immediately clear who was responsible for the move, which only impacted listings in cities in the U.S. Craigslist executives didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Controversy has swirled around the use of the classifieds site for prostitution, erotic massage and other adult services.
Last year, Craigslist instituted a manual screening system where each adult ad is reviewed by a lawyer for compliance with the law and Cragslist’s own standards before it gets posted. Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster has said the screening caused a steep drop in the number of such listings making it onto the site.
But the move wasn’t enough for some critics. Last month, 18 state attorneys general published an open letter to Craigslist demanding that it take down that portion of the site altogether.
Buckmaster has defended the Adult Services section, saying that shutting it down would only force such ads to other parts of Craigslist and other sites.
The censored label was reported earlier by TechCrunch.
This is not a step in the right direction. It's just a smear campaign, but most people don't realize it. As a web developer I just got done analyzing and uncovering the lies in the CNN report. Long story short it's technically impossible for Craig's List to post ads as the reporter claims and its not Craig Newmark's fault if cops are too lazy to arrest people who abuse his services.
ReplyDeleteMy full analysis:
http://illegalalienreport.com/news/story/expert-analysis-uncovers-false-cnn-craigs-list-accusations-10.aspx