VOX – Apr 16 – President Trump has signed into law a set of controversial bills intended to make it easier to cut down on illegal sex trafficking online. Both bills – the House bill known as FOSTA, the Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act, and the Senate bill, SESTA, the Stop Enabling Sex-Trafficking Act – have been hailed by advocates as a victory for sex trafficking victims. But the bills also poke a huge hole in a famous and longstanding "safe harbor" rule of the internet: Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act that allowed the internet to thrive on user-generated content without holding platforms and ISPs responsible for whatever those users might create. But FOSTA-SESTA creates an exception to Section 230 that means website publishers would be responsible if third parties are found to be posting ads for prostitution – including consensual sex work – on their platforms. "This bill jeopardizes not only classified ads sites but also dating apps, discussion forums, social media sites, and any other service that hosts user-generated content," said Emma Llansó of the Center for Democracy & Technology in a public statement opposing the bill. "Smaller platforms will also face the real risk that a single lawsuit could put them out of business."
by Aja Romano
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