Lawmakers: Craigslist, Web exacerbate child prostitution problem

Lawmakers blasted Craigslist at a hearing Wednesday, arguing that the site, and more generally the Internet, have exacerbated the problem of child prostitution.

“Websites escape liability when an ad on their site results in [a child’s] rape, prostitution and even death,” said Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.), a witness at the House Judiciary Crime subcommittee hearing.

{mosads}Speier has been a vocal critic of Craigslist for failing to banish illegal ads from its site. She said the company is a proper target for criticism because it receives so much more traffic than other ad boards, making it the “gorilla” of the debate.

“Thinly disguised ads for sex on Craigslist receive three times” the clicks as ads on other sites, Speier said, citing estimates that “on Craigslist alone there are more than 3.2 billion posts on the adult-services section a year.”

In a response to criticism, Craigslist this month removed its adult-services section, replacing it for a time with the word “censored.” Craigslist started the services so that users on other areas of the site would not be barraged with inappropriate ads.

William Clinton Powell, Craigslist’s director of customer service and law enforcement relations, told lawmakers the removal of the section could be viewed as a step backward for addressing the core problem of child prostitution because it could drive the practice back into the shadows and out of the view of law enforcement.

Another official with the company described human-rights groups as having an idealistic approach to the issue, and argued that eradicating adult- and erotic-services advertisements from the Web will not eradicate victimization.

Still, Powell said that the site has no intention to reinstate the section and that the company would not do so if offered more money by groups wanting to place the ads.
Powell also defended his company, saying it has a strong record of working with law enforcement agencies to stop abuse.

Speier argued that the Internet and sites such as Craigslist had made it too easy for child prostitution rackets.

Perpetrators once “had to come out of their homes” to accomplish the crime, according to Speier. Now they can “have a child at their doorstep at the click of a button,” she said.
Human-rights advocates welcomed the decision by Craigslist last month to remove the adult-services section, but they and some lawmakers are pressing the company to do the same for its international pages.

“I hope we will hear from Craigslist that they will be shutting down the erotic pages [overseas],” said Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), another Craigslist critic and hearing witness.

Craigslist defenders say there is little the site can do to completely banish illegal ads. They say those ads will migrate to other sections of Craigslist or the Internet at large.

Penalizing Craigslist fails to take into account the nature of free speech online and the difficulty websites would have with adequately policing content on their sites, these critics argue. Craigslist has said it is eager to work with law enforcement to limit crime on its site.

Speier dismissed that argument at the hearing. “Let the company not forget they control the ads on their site,” she said.

Speier and Maloney also panned domestic efforts to help victims and touted Maloney’s bill to provide more funding.

“Many believe sex trafficking is only a problem in foreign countries,” said Maloney, who cited experts as estimating that a minimum of 100,000 children in the U.S. are trafficked each year.

She said reports have found the U.S. spends more on sex trafficking overseas than domestically.