Craigslist Ditching “Erotic Services”
In a bummer for old white people with disposable income, a popular internet marketplace will get rid of its “erotic services” advertisements under pressure from various State Attorneys General.
And yes “Attorneys General” is the proper plural form, there.
The announcement was made by the Attorneys General (there it is again) of Connecticut and Illinois, although S.C. Attorney General and presumptive gubernatorial candidate Henry McMaster (who is singular) has made his fair share of Craigslist hay.
The company – whose “erotic services” ads have come under fire after the alleged Craigslist killer used them to stalk his victims – will pull this controversial section of its website within seven days and replace it with an “adult services” section.
Ads that appear on that section will be “manually approved” by Craigslist employees.
Comments
By Jacob on May 13th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
This change in policy will do very little to change the way that consenting adults hook up on the internet, it will simply change the website people use to do so. As Craigslist has placed increasing barriers like fees and restrictions for those wishing to post in their erotic section, competing sites in the space like Naughty Reviews, which offers free classified ads, have grown significantly. My point is that law enforcement is simply wasting resources with this current campaign as stopping the world’s oldest profession is just not possible in today’s day and age.
By Mike on May 13th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
Good ol’ Henry- SC remains one of the most violent, dangerous states in the US (the MOST violent, according to some metrics and in some areas), but our AG / goober-natorial candidate spends all of his time trying to convince parents that there’s a child snatching pervert on every corner just waiting for your kids to log on, or that the sad little prostitutes on Craig’s List represent to greatest threat to our way of life since gay marriage.
My vice cop buddies tell me that only a relatively few girls advertise on CL, and they’re supremely easy to catch when they do. The vast majority still work for escort services, have their own websites, or work out of strip clubs/street corners. Of course, they’re much harder to catch in those venues, and there’s no easy, convenient whipping boy like CL around to serve up easy points from the far right wing.
Prostitution is a sad little world, but Craig’s List is just a tiny, tiny piece of it unless you’re all about getting your name in the paper, and it’s much easier to write letters and grandstand than it is to actually prosecute real criminals. Just ask the Solicitor down in the Fourth Circuit how much the AG’s grandstanding helped him out during the Hinson/underground rape trial…
Of course, the MSM / “established” media will continue to give the AG a pass, because that’s just what they do attendant to any story that involves a little nuance or requires some research or heavy lifting.
By Craigslist Proxy on May 13th, 2009 at 10:16 pm
Anyone else think that you can get some interesting stuff on CL? A lot of trash sometimes about CL but also some bargains to be found.
By Liberty For Me on May 14th, 2009 at 6:47 am
The country is in real trouble and this is the type of priorities we have??…I hope none of them have pot on them!…dumbasses