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Image by Thomas Hawk via FlickrBuoyed by Craigslist's decision earlier this month to discontinue accepting adult services ads, attorneys general from 21 states are pressuring Village Voice Media-owned Backpage.com to follow suit.
According to Dallas Morning News and Associated Press stories, Connecticut AG Richard Blumenthal and Texas AG Greg Abbott both signed on to a letter urging the company to oversee their personal and paid classified ads for suspicious listings and to discontinue free adult online listings. Blumenthal alleges Backpage.com has pocketed $17.5 million from "prostitution ads."
Thus far, Village Voice Media is defiant, claiming only 6 million of its 58 million ads over the past two years involved adult services and that Backpage.com has only testified in five cases involving the alleged abuse of underaged individuals.
"TUOL" believes the AG pressure tactics mask a First Amendment battle the authorities suspect they cannot win. More to the point, the exercise of chasing adult ads from Craigslist to Backpage and beyond is akin to picking up watermelon seeds from a freshly waxed floor--a difficult task that accomplishes little in the end.
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Enjoying your more requent commentary and opinion at the end of your posts. Please continue ... and thanks.
ReplyDeleteSorry for the typo. "Recent" morphed into "requent" somehow. Time to get better glasses, I think.
ReplyDeleteBad day. Just realized my intended word was "frequent". Your theory and perspective on legal action and motive are interesting, informative, educational and very welcome to this lay person.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Donna. Your insights and encouragement have enabled me to reach the 650 post mark.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome. And congratulations!
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