Groups Urge Craigslist To Eliminate Foreign Adult Services Ads
Four anti-sex trafficking groups Tuesday praised Craigslist.org for shutting down its adult services ads in the United States but urged the online classifieds ad provider to eliminate similar ads offered on its foreign websites.
After coming under fire from the groups and 18 state attorneys general who claim the company's adult ads help promote prostitution, Craigslist this weekend abruptly shut down its adult services ads section on its U.S. website and replaced it with the words "censored."
Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster told Tech Daily Dose late last month that the company wanted to work with the state attorneys general to address their concerns, saying that failing to do so "would encourage the notion that government censorship can address complex societal challenges that will be met only through thoughtful, sustained investment in our communities."
In a statement, Courtney's House, the FAIR Fund, the Polaris Project and the Rebecca Project for Human Rights said Craigslist's decision to shut down its adult services ads in the United States "sends a clear signal to sexual predators that it will not stand for them using the site to sexually enslave children and young women."
They added despite making a "good first step in the U.S., there are still more than 250 other Craigslist 'erotic' pages around the world where children and young women are still being sold for sex through Craigslist. Craigslist is a global company, and it has a global responsibility. It should immediately shut down the 'erotic' services sections across the globe."
The groups also said they hoped Craigslist's decision to shut down the U.S adult services ads wasn't "simply a PR move" ahead of a tentative House Judiciary Committee hearing next week on sex trafficking on the Web.
A Craigslist spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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