Craigslist encourages more subtlety among prostitutes
Or at least, that's how it seems to me. After meeting with the angry attorneys general of Connecticut, Illinois and Missouri, Craigslist has decided to end its "erotic services" ad section and replace it with an "adult services" section. Ostensibly this new feature is for adults who don't want to do erotic things. You know, they'll be hooking up to do the Sunday crossword puzzle together.
Craigslist's new policy comes in the wake of the death of a masseuse in a Boston hotel room and an assault on another woman in Rhode Island; the 23-year-old medical school student charged in the murder allegedly had responded to the victims' ads on the site.
New ads will cost $10 and will be manually approved by Craigslist before being posted. How this will prevent a "masseuse" from posting an ad and meeting a strange man in a hotel for, let's say, an innocent back rub isn't clear to me. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal says he'll be watching to see the change really does eliminate prostitution and pornography, so we'll see.
According to cnn.com, last year Craigslist added some safeguards to the erotic services section, including requiring a verified credit card number and a phone number from people participating in the world's biggest brothel. The changes still relied on Craigslist users to police the site, however, which wasn't enough for Cook County (Ill.) Sheriff Tom Dart, who sued Craigslist in March for facilitating prostitution. The company has argued that the changes it made last year were successful, reducing the amount of illegal services being advertised and making it easier for police to enforce vice laws. It also has argued that Craigslist users are responsible for fewer violent crimes than, say, readers of newspaper classifieds. Besides, its executives said, the federal Communications Decency Act immunized it from liability because it acted as a conduit for information posted by its users. By actively reviewing the adult ads submitted to its site, the company may be putting its immunity in jeopardy.
Help me out here. Will this change really make a difference in Craigslist's ads? Or is something better than nothing?
It's amazing people think anything would change even if Craigslist shut down altogether. This profession, for better or more likely for worse, has been around and thriving for recorded history. We're talking millennia. Those who choose to offer such services will advertise somewhere else.
Craigslist has nothing whatsoever to do with this problem. Another in the endless examples of simpleminded people looking for simple solutions to enormously complex problems.
Affordable housing, a moral employment minimum wage, child care, and UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE would do infinitely more to help women keep out of this line of work than targeting one advertising venue after another.
Our politicians and especially our ever-worsening press are turning our formerly mindless, sheep-like citizens into something even dumber.
Posted by: P2R | May 16, 2009 at 11:47 AM
The fact that Craigslist is being forced to jump through these hoops for various state law enforcement is ridiculous. Let's face it, there are a hundred different places to advertise for "massages" besides Craigslist, and when their is a market for those services, the buyer and the seller will always find a way...it's capitalism at its best.
As for those unfortunate enough to have met up with a murderer through Craigslist, it's a terrible thing indeed. BUT, it's not the fault of the service provider that maniacs exist at one end of the posting! Let's face it, if someone is going to advertise for a service that takes them into a private room with someone they don't know, they are taking a risk, regardless of how they came into contact with each other.
It seems to me that this incident just goes to show that prostitution should be legal. At least then it would be out in the open and regulated, perhaps even where it would increase it's safety for those who are doing the job.
Posted by: Bryan Galt | May 13, 2009 at 06:15 PM
great, that should stop prostitution, good work AGs
Posted by: Dusty Rhodes | May 13, 2009 at 06:09 PM