Craigslist used for prostitution?
Missouri attorney general Chris Koster said he plans to begin negotiating with Craigslist representatives to eliminate “Erotic Services” ads that amount to little more than offers of sex for sale.
“We very much look forward to hearing AG Koster’s concerns, and working together with his office toward our common goal of eliminating illegal activity from craigslist,” website chief executive Jim Buckmaster told AFP via email.
He added that a craigslist imperative will be “preserving its full utility and benefit for the millions of law-abiding Missourians who value and depend on our free local community services in their everyday lives.”
Koster said he and attorneys general from Connecticut and Illinois will be representing all of their US peers at a meeting with Craigslist in New York city.
“Craigslist is allowing advertisements for illegal activities like prostitution on its site,” Koster said in a written release. “It is blatant. It is irresponsible. It is illegal.”
California-based Craigslist has defended itself repeatedly against similar accusations.
In March, Buckmaster argued they were having laudable results in clamping down on sex ads on the Internet bulletin board.
Buckmaster said the crackdown on sex ads stemmed from a collaborative effort launched in November with 40 US attorneys general and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
“The early results from the collaborative joint effort … have been spectacular,” he said. “Craigslist staff have continued to work closely with law enforcement agencies across the country to vigorously pursue those engaged in the horrific crimes of human trafficking and exploitation of minors.”
Measures include calling telephone numbers in ads to verify information, charging fees, and requiring people placing the ads to provide valid credit card information, according to Craigslist.
Buckmaster’s comments were in response to a move by county sheriff in Illinois that is suing the website for promoting prostitution with free classified ads that people use to offer sex for cash.
The sheriff is asking a federal judge to order Craigslist to shutter its “Erotic Services” section.
US law protects Craigslist and other websites from being responsible for content posted by users, the website’s lawyers argue.
Buckmaster pledged that Craigslist will “vigorously” defend against the lawsuit.
“Craigslist is responsible for the types of advertisements it allows, and it is imperative that Craigslist agree to tougher restrictions and to remove ads for illegal activities from its site,” Koster said. “We aim to stop this type of advertising in Missouri.”
Koster decried such online arrangements as “dangerous” in an apparent veiled reference to the recent arrest of a young medical student charged with murdering a woman who had posted an ad on Craigslist.
Philip Markoff, 22, was charged with the murder of Julissa Brisman, 26, who offered massage services on Craigslist and was found shot dead on April 14 in her hotel room at the Boston Marriott.
The case stirred a media frenzy in Boston amid the hunt for a so-called “Craigslist Killer” named after the website which advertises everything from houses to babysitters to furniture for sale.
Markoff is also a suspect in the case of a 29-year-old woman who advertised on Craigslist as an exotic dancer. She was robbed of her credit card and $800 cash on April 10 from a room at a different hotel.
Craigslist used for prostitution – give your views
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