IN SURPRISE MOVE CRAIGSLIST BLOWS OUT ITS ADULT SERVICES LISTING Move follows years of complaints from law enforcement September 04, 2010
CLICK TO ENLARGE
(NATIONAL) -- After several years of criticism from law enforcement agencies and various county and state prosecutors – and after months of pressure from various state attorney general offices - the online classified ad giant Craigslist pulled its adult services listings offline over the Labor Day weekend.
Visitors to the web site were greeted with a black bar with the word "censored" in white text (as seen to the right, CLICK TO ENLARGE) where the link to the adult services listings would normally be.
For years the adult services section of the website has been a thorn in the side of law enforcement as it is widely alleged by police that prostitutes and those involved in prostitution rings – sometimes using underage girls as sex slaves – use the adults services section to openly advertise for “Johns”e.g., customers.
Craigslist originally had an “Erotic Services” section, but shut it down in May of last year in response to pressure from law enforcement.
The company had previously tried to ward off criticism by verifying listings over the phone and working with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, but has since decided that having a section of the site that had been, for the most part, taken over by the illegal sex trade was not in its best interests.
In an August 24th letter, the state attorneys general said Craigslist should remove the section because it couldn't adequately block potentially illegal ads promoting prostitution and child trafficking.
As of late authorities have pointed out the case of 24-year-old Philip Markoff as a example of the dangers posed by Craigslist services.
The former medical student was accused of killing a masseuse he met through Craigslist. Markoff committed suicide in the Boston jail where he was awaiting trial.
