States go after Craigslist adult ads
Aug 24, 2010, 4:54 PM | Updated: Mar 28, 2011, 3:46 pm
State attorneys general nationwide are demanding that the classified ads site Craigslist remove its adult services section.
Connecticut’s Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is leading this attack against Craigslist, supported by 16 other states. They accuse Craigslist of “not completely screening out ads that promote prostitution and child trafficking.”
This is separate from an effort Washington’s Attorney General Rob McKenna launched last year, but with the same intention of cracking down on illicit and erotic ads.
Kristin Alexander, with McKenna’s office, says Washington decided not to join the latest effort because “simply removing or changing the title of this section will not necessarily improve the ability of Craigslist, attorneys general or law enforcement to police illegal exploitation and human trafficking on their site.”
In 2008, Washington was involved in the agreement that requires those who post erotic services ads on Craigslist to provide a working phone number and pay a fee with a valid credit card.
Craig Newmark, who started Craigslist in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1995, hasn’t responded to the Attorneys General yet.
Attorneys general from Arkansas, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia are involved in the effort to drop Craigslist adult services.
