Seventeen State Attorneys General Have a Problem With Craigslist

Craig Newmark might, in fact, be a magical leprechaun, capable of sifting through thousands of adult service ads per month and weeding out all of those for sex trafficking with a single tip of a jaunty green hat. Hey, he said as much himself on Twitter … All joking aside, the debate rages on over what, if anything, should be done about the adult services section on Craigslist, and now 17 state attorneys general have stepped forward to tell the classified ad site it’s time to pull the section altogether.

Attorneys general from Arkansas, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia banded together to sign the letter, which tells Craigslist in no uncertain terms that sex trafficking is facilitated all too easily through the site, and since not enough has been done to stop it, the only solution left is shutdown. Citing the recent letter from two girls who were trafficked on Craigslist, as well as CNN’s report calling Craigslist “the Wal-Mart of child sex trafficking,” the attorneys general call Newmark and Jim Buckmaster’s responses, or lack thereof, “deeply troubling.” In spite of all the reports and moving appeals, Craigslist remains pretty much unmoved, stating that it has already adopted “best practices” in response to sex trafficking ads on the site.

So is the argument between Craigslist and abolitionists at a stalemate? What happens next? Will the attorneys general’s letter carry enough weight to cause Craig and Jim to so much as blink? If only my crystal ball were working this week, I could tell you.

A nagging concern in the back of my mind is that even though the attorneys general’s letter is an impressive stand (almost as impressive as the nearly 10,000 signatures on our petition), its message is not quite the same as ours. Almost, but not quite. Several other advocates have also called for an end to Craigslist’s adult services, period, the end, while we’re asking for reform on the site, presuming that it remains in place. Is that simply a small distinction, or is it a bigger problem?

I don’t really have an answer to that question – just more questions. If Craigslist were to go ahead and nix its adult services section, what would be the effect? Craigslist would lose revenue, yes, although I’m sure we can all agree that the safety of potential sex trafficking victims is far more valuable than a cash pile, no matter how big. Where would the ads then go? Would they really disappear, or simply find new homes? In other words, is asking Craigslist to remove its adult services section merely a band-aid fix? Or does the value lie in the would-be gesture of Craigslist taking a stand?

Craigslist has claimed to have already reformed its screening methods for sex-trafficking ads, and clearly those “reforms” are not working. I presume you’ve already signed our petition asking Craigslist to make real change in its adult services section through increased transparency, cooperation with law enforcement and true screening efforts. (If not, whaddya waitin’ for?) Although I personally don’t love the adult services section, at all, I have to ask if demanding its complete removal is truly practical and plausible. Or is the demand, because it is so extreme, too easy for a company like Craigslist to dismiss?

There are not, of course, any right or wrong answers here, only opinions, but I bring up these issues because I think all of us abolitionists are on the same side, but not necessarily on the same page. And I’m worried it weakens our appeal toward a company whose cooperation is desperately needed, less so for ourselves than the sex trafficking victims we seek to protect.

Photo credit: faith goble