BBC.COM – Mar 23 – Craigslist has closed its dating ads section in the US, in response to a new bill against sex trafficking. The bill states that websites can now be punished for "facilitating" prostitution and sex trafficking. The company said keeping the section open in the US was too much of a risk. In March, US congress passed the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (Fosta). It will apply to all states in the US. Websites are not usually held responsible for the content that members post – as long as illegal material is removed as soon as the service provider is made aware.
Category: Craigslist Personals
In The Era Of Dating Apps, Craigslist’s Missed Connections Lives On
WASHINGTON POST – Aug 21 – The popularity of Missed Connections might have peaked somewhere between "You've Got Mail" – era chat rooms and the creation of dating apps, but it's still common to find at least a dozen new posts on the D.C. page each day. Seventeen years after its was established, the Craigslist section lives on.
by Sonia Rao
See full article at Washington Post
Craigslist: A Dangerous Way For People To Seek Relationships
WASHINGTON POST – Apr 20 – David Messerschmitt, the intellectual-property lawyer, was found stabbed to death inside a room at a hotel in Washington after he had posted on Craigslist seeking sex with men. Craigslist grew to be one of the largest players in online dating for men. The secrecy meshed well for men in the closet or those seeking immediate sex. "That was exciting. That was discovering. That was also very dangerous," said Mark Brooks, a longtime online dating consultant and president of the Internet Dating Executive Alliance. Although Craigslist's anonymity can make it a draw for predators, Jonathan Crutchley, a founder of Manhunt, said all online dating sites have deceptive users looking to commit crimes. "It's the dark side of the business, but it's the truth."
by Dan Morse & Mary Pat Flaherty
See full article at Washington Post
The Internet’s Dating Dungeon: Craigslist Personals
MANCAVE DAILY – Oct 18 – Craigslist personals allow one to do things that would result in a ban from conventional dating sites. That’s because Craigslist s all about getting down to business. Craigslist Personals is governed by shame, need and shameful needs. This is also why so many women don’t post photos. Because so many guys on Craigslist are so sexually unique, at least 50% of the women on Craigslist are pros.
by Todd D. Barmann
The full article was originally published at Mancave Daily, but is no longer available.
Craigslist Shuts Down Sex Ads For Good
READ WRITE WEB – Sep 15 – Craigslist's suspension on September 4 has been made permanent. Critics of the move have pointed out that public sex ads allow law enforcement to monitor potential victimizers of children. Others pointed out that there is no question of the legality of ads with sexual contents.
The full article was originally published at Read Write, but is no longer available.
Critic Praises Craigslist Move To Censor Ads, Calls For More Info
CNN – Sep 7 - Craigslist's decision to censor its adult services section is a "good step but a continuing battle has to be fought," said Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal a leader in the fight against prostitution ads. "We have received no definitive word that the shutdown is permanent." The section that usually reads "adult services" on Craigslist was replaced Saturday by the word "censored. Craigslist representatives said that they will release a statement at a later time. A CNN investigation of Craigslist's adult services section, which replaced "erotic services ads" two years ago, counted ~7,000 ads in a single day. Many offered thinly veiled "services" for anything from $50 for a half-hour to $400 an hour. FULL ARTICLE @ CNN
Mark Brooks: Casual encounters and erotic services sections are still live on Craigslist. Users will simply switch to those sections.
Craigslist Blocks Access To ‘Adult Services’ Pages
NY TIMES – Sep 4 – Craigslist, the popular Web site for classified ads, has blocked access to its “adult services” section and replaced the link with a black label showing the word “censored.” Law-enforcement say the adult ads helped facilitate prostitution. Ads cost $10 to post and $5 to repost, and are expected to bring in $45M revenue this year. FULL ARTICLE @ NY TIMES
Mark Brooks: Craigslist needs to decide…does it support prostitution or not. It is profiteering from prostitution. As are other adult dating services. Just how alturistic do Craig and Jim want to get? Running events to educate and encourage the formation of charitable groups is great. But their yin, to that yang, is meandering them into the solacious fields of prostitution. When you do adult dating, you also do prostitution and all that that world plunders.
Craigslist Under Fire For Kids On “Adult Services”
READ WRITE WEB – Aug 11 – Last week, craigslist was the subject of a primetime CNN story that criticized the site for "not doing enough" to prevent child sex trafficking, quoting a youth rights advocate who said craigslist is the primary venue for selling minors for sex. Craigslist later responded that it works "tirelessly" to prevent ads for minors in the adult services section and works with law enforcement and non-profits to fight child sex trafficking. Craigslist isn't legally responsible for any of the content uploaded by users. But advertising for illegal services is against its terms of use and craigslist says it screens all ads and rejects those that are about sex.
The full article was originally published at Read Write, but is no longer available.
Craigslist Adult Services Listings To Generate $36 Million In 2010
with their annual report on Craigslist and estimates that the
classified listing site will generate $122M in revenue in 2010. More
than half of that revenue comes from recruitment advertising, but 30%
of it comes from Craigslist’s adult services ads. The listings, which
have been thenceforth referred to as adult services, include moderation
and charge clients $10 per post, with proceeds no longer going directly
to charity. FULL ARTICLE @ MASHABLE
Story Of Craigslist Sex
HUFFINGTON POST – Apr 9 - The Craigslist casual encounters section
offers a no-strings-attached experience that's expedient and anonymous.
The section started in 2000 and now accounts for 2% of all Craigslist
postings, which run in 570 cities and 50 countries and get more than
50M visitors a month. In fact, the New York Times reports that traffic
to all Craigslist personals sections is higher than for Match.com,
eHarmony and Yahoo personals. In 2006, Nassau County set up a
prostitution sting operation focused on Craigslist. As a result, last
year, Craigslist reached an agreement with state attorney generals to
charge a $5 fee and require a phone number for people posting "erotic
services." The move led to an immediate 80% drop in postings to that
section. FULL ARTICLE @ HUFFINGTON POST