Going to the Judge - Making Life Harder for Pimps - Amex, MC and Visa taking a Stand
Last year I wrote about a missing 15-year-old Boston girl whose parents were beside themselves with worry. In their living room, I pulled out my laptop, opened up Backpage and quickly found seminude advertisements for the girl, who turned out to be in a hotel room with an armed pimp.
Backpage is allowed to operate because of a loophole in the Communications Decency Act. Attorneys general from 48 states have pleaded with Backpage to stop this exploitation, to no effect. Girls who have been sold on Backpage when they were as young as 13 have sued the company, but haven’t succeeded because of the loophole.
Then suddenly this summer, the miracle of the market intervened.
Sheriff Tom Dart of Cook County, Ill., wrote tough letters to Visa and MasterCard, calling on them to stop allowing their cards to pay for sex ads on Backpage. Both companies effectively agreed. To its great credit, American Express in April stopped working with Backpage for adult ads, so as of the beginning of July pimps had no easy way to pay for advertisements.
Flummoxed, Backpage responded by making its basic sex ads free, but, even with a fee to promote a free ad, that’s not a business model that can sustain it. Backpage is suing Sheriff Dart, but my sense is that pimps won’t be using their credit cards again on the site any time soon.
More: Making Life Harder for Pimps - the New York Times
Judge to consider motivation in decision to cut off Backpage.com
Earlier this year, a federal judge in Boston threw out a lawsuit against Backpage that alleged that the website was designed to facilitate sex trafficking. Judge Richards Stearns ultimately agreed with the company’s — and digital rights groups’ — argument that under federal law Web service companies are immune from liability for crimes by users.
…
Dart also wrote to Guy Cottrell, chief U.S. postal inspector, earlier this month urging him to “explore all available means to ensure that the U.S. Postal Service is not being used to foster avenues for sex trafficking via backpage.com.” The Dallas-based, Dutch-owned company will still accept bitcoin, cash, check and money order for ads.
Lots of interesting subjects for discussion here. While I admire Sheriff Dart for taking action, I wonder if he overstepped his authority.
If prostitution were legal in this country, it would make it possible for everyone involved to certify their “escorts” were of age and have legally consented to the work.
Digital vendors, Communications Decency Act and liability is a whole thesis worth of discussion.
I am seeing shades of Comstock in Dart’s request to the U.S. Postal Inspector.
Personally, my belief is that we will never really see a reduction in slavery until we make it a crime on the same level as murder. It is insidious that the United States of America, more than any other country, tolerates this crime. Some would argue it is worse than murder.