Does Craigslist Think We're Stupid?

These days, Craigslist is looking more and more like a naughty child who keeps getting caught with his hand in the cookie jar.  That is, if the cookie jar were illegal prostitution and pimping of children.  It's time for real change.

Amid increasing pressure (some of it from you, dear readers) two months ago, Craigslist agreed to replace their "Erotic Services" section with the more euphemistically-named "Adult Services" section, as if it now offers mostly wine classes and tax preparation.  However, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart who sued Craigslist last year claims that prostitution is still thriving in the Adult Services section under a thin veneer.

According to Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, the rampant prostitution ads on Craigslist are

 "...so thinly disguised, the real question is how they are permitted to be there if, in fact, the site is doing the screening and policing that they said they will do."

The pressure on Craigslist to remove their "Erotic Services" section stemmed from several cases of minor and adult human trafficking victims being sold via Craigslist.  Craigslist claims the new section has strict qualifications to help avoid the exploitation of minors, but they have not yet released what those qualifications are.

I thought, perhaps, as Craigslist claims, all these sheriffs and attorney generals are only attacking the company for personal or political reasons.  So I hopped onto Craigslist to see what I could find.  Here are a few of the ad titles:

• Bodywork By Black Stunning Transsexual Beauty
• $100- Super Hot Grad student for massage
• S.U.P.E.R.S.T.A.C.K.E.D.massage
• Young sweet Asian girl massage
• Sexy Sexy Sexy Sexy Sexy Sexy

In most of the ads I looked at, the massage skills of the "masseuse" were not mentioned at all, whereas their supposed ages, physical attributes, and prices were described in detail.  Sometime, obvious euphemisms like "100 roses per half hour" or "200 diamonds" are used in place of dollar signs.

Unlike Craigslist, I don't think you're stupid.  I think you can look at the ads in Craigslist's Adult Services section and tell if they look like ads for legitimate massages, Or if they look like the same escort and prostitution businesses, some of which were pimping minors, that have been on advertised on Craigslist since its inception.  Congress has already called Craigslist on their lack of real change.  Now you can tell Craigslist you see through their game too, and you're not stupid.