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You are here: Home / Politics / Domestic Politics / In defense of Craigslist

In defense of Craigslist

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Reihan Salam has a very good post up defending Craigslist which he notes is, “a quality-of-life boon for cities across the country.” He links to this piece by danah boyd, explaining how censoring Craigslist’s adult service section may in fact make it harder for law enforcement to track down sex traffickers and other criminals. I think it’s a strong argument, and it’s a shame Craigslist caved, though not surprising. As Reihan points out:

Keep in mind that Craigslist, as McCullagh explains, is a company that employs 30 people and that has scrupulously avoided attempts to scale up dramatically in size. Though not quite a mom-and-pop, Craigslist is a business that has created far more consumer surplus than media organizations many times its size. Simply put, Craigslist doesn’t have the resources to defend itself against baseless attacks. It needs all of us who’ve benefited from its apartment listings, like yours truly, to stick up for it against political bullying.

Reader Interactions

17Comments

  1. 1.

    BGinCHI

    I’m sorry but I don’t remember Terry Jones telling Craigslist they couldn’t advertise sex.

    Let’s be prudent and wait for our lord and master to come to a decision.

  2. 2.

    Violet

    I know nothing about Reihan Salam, but the photos I’ve seen of him make him look like a movie bad guy right out of central casting. Not much of one for smiling is he?

    The internet isn’t going away. Since Craigslist has stopped taking ads of that nature, something else will step in and fill its place. The police will have to adapt, but the new formats will likely also be internet-based. I don’t think we’re going back to the days of ads in the back of the alternative weekly newspaper.

  3. 3.

    EJ

    @Violet: The problem here is unlike a number of vastly better-funded online classified networks, Craigslist had made considerable good-faith efforts (in many cases successful) to work with law enforcement to track down human traffickers and other serious criminals who were advertising in its adult services section.

    But because it lacks the resources to defend itself, it became a target for publicity-seeking AGs. The next company to take up the mantle will likely be able to afford better lawyers and won’t be so cooperative.

  4. 4.

    wengler

    The rational response would be to make acts between consenting adults legal, but either way this is an Internet FIAL for all those AGs and big city sheriffs. The old media has also fanned the flames against Craigslist probably due to its destruction of the classifieds business.

    Adult ads will now go to about 10 more sites, and after some of those are pestered to death, another 40. Welcome to the new world. Adjust your expectations accordingly.

  5. 5.

    Nemo_N

    Like babies, who think that if something is no longer in front of their eyes it means it no longer exists.

  6. 6.

    wengler

    @EJ

    Exactly. The founder and operators of Craigslist see it more as a community service and have resisted commercially benefiting off of the massive amount of traffic they get. I believe their only revenue is off of job ads in select cities.

    And now by shooting the messenger, these states lost a valuable ally against human trafficking. Nice job morons!

  7. 7.

    Ailuridae

    The “can’t afford legal defense” argument is pretty silly though, right? How long would it take craigslist to raise a nearly unlimited defense fund?

  12. 12.

    sneezy

    @EJ:

    What is this “lack of resources” stuff? My understanding is that the best estimates are that craigslist hauls in upwards of $100 million a year.

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