Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

How stupid are these people?

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

Many life forms that would benefit from greater intelligence, sadly, do not have it.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

All hail the time of the bunny!

One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

There are no moderate republicans – only extremists and cowards.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Mediocre white men think RFK Jr’s pathetic midlife crisis is inspirational. The bar is set so low for them, it’s subterranean.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

It is not hopeless, and we are not helpless.

the 10% who apparently lack object permanence

If you thought you’d already seen people saying the stupidest things possible on the internet, prepare yourselves.

You are either for trump or for democracy. Pick one.

Let me file that under fuck it.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

Those who are easily outraged are easily manipulated.

“Facilitate” is an active verb, not a weasel word.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

If you cannot answer whether trump lost the 2020 election, you are unfit for office.

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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