Craigslist Censored: Adult Section Comes Down

[Rod Hagen]

http://techcrunch.com/2010/09/03/craigslist-censored-adult-section-comes-down/

 

Craigslist Censored: Adult Section Comes Down

Michael Arrington

1 hour ago

Bad news for Craigslist users who like to peruse the Erotic Services Adult Services section of their site. It’s gone, replaced by a large black and white “censored” logo.

 

I’ve reached out to Craigslist for comment and await their reply. But the choice of words is significant – the section wasn’t simply removed, the censored word was used.

 

The site has been embattled as old press and state attorneys general use any excuse to blame sex crimes on the site. From South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster’s failed crusade against them to a variety of press stories about sex and other crimes. If it’s just a sex crime it isn’t a story. But if a listing on Craigslist was involved, it’s a big story.

 

Craigslist has fought back using little more than their blog and logic. And they’re right. Having prostitution up front and regulated, as Craigslist does, means less crime is associated with it. It’s not like prostitution, sometimes called the world’s oldest profession, was invented on the site.

 

The fact that eBay and others do exactly the same thing, but without human review and moderation, doesn’t seem to matter. Craigslist Sex is what scares the general population, and it’s what the press and the politicians will continue to use to get their hits and votes.

 

So the Craigslist Adult Section was removed. Is the world now a safer place?

 

Update: This only appears to affect U.S. sites, so if you’re looking for a happy ending in Saskatoon or the West Bank, have at it.

[Luv2play]

After I read another thread on this subject last night, I went on Craigslist on the Canadian site and sure enough, all the erotic ads are still there. I hadn't been on the site for perhaps 4 months since I have been rather busy lately but I saw even more ads in the Montreal section than previously. Also ads from escorts who previously used Rentboy and other escort sites.

 

Of course "free speech"is a relative matter and what is "free" in Canada is not necessarily so in the USA and vice versa. We have much stricter rules in Canada about what contitutes "hate speech' than in the US. WE also have libel laws are are easier to invoke (Conrad Black, who recently got out of a US jail and is a former press baron, famously uses the courts to sue anyone who criticizes him and he no sooner got out of jail when he launched another suit).

 

On another front, we don't have the same pressure from the religious fanatics who would have everyone wearing sack and ashcloth. We are a confederation unlike the US and we have provinces like Quebec where social tolerance is much higher than in other areas of the country such as Alberta and parts of British Columbia (the Bible belt of Canada). Because of our constitution and the role that the provinces play in the justice system, the federal government has to tread lightly in these matters for fear of upsetting the balance of social consensus.

 

As I get older, I am appreciating more and more the Canadian approach which appears more in tune with European views on sexual mores rather than the American situation. The puritans never made much of an inroad in Canada and have even less sway now than in the US.

[ManToManDave]

Well...this kinda sucks. Tho I have never used Craigslist to promote my guys or my agency, I HAVE used the Help Wanted (Adult) section to recruit new guys --with some success. Guess I'll hafta utilize other methods to find diamonds in the rough --tho not sure which other methods would be successful. grrrrrr

 

Dave

http://www.ManToManEscorts.com

[josephga]

they removed the adult gig section too

[MiamiLooker]

I've found CL to be a lucrative place to find hot guys. I've found and hired plenty from the Personals section, never from the Adult Services section. You just have to read between the lines on some postings or catch them before they're removed. The Therapeutic section is still available to find masssage services.

[1sf]

I just became aware of a new site, similar to Craigslist: http://www.backpage.com. Anyone have any experience with it? They have a section for male escorts, for example: http://sf.backpage.com/MaleEscorts/

[Michael Wayne]

Hey Guys! Mikey9nola here. I am an escort in New Orleans and I am really bummed out about the adult services thing. Not really for me because I am successful and advertise in other venues such as Rentboy and Men4rentnow. My business is fine but so many guys and women are really in a bind because of this. Their customer service is nill and they truly are rude to advertisers at craigslist.. Here is the thing: In a large market you do not need craigslist but in a small market like Nola now that Decadence is over people need every possible venue to advertise in just to get ahead. When I was starting out I needed craigslist badly and so I feel for my younger competitors. as far as backpage is concerned it works great in some places like southwest florida but here in Nola no one uses it. One final thought: craigslist is accessible at the office by married clients whereas m4rn or rentboy will get you fired. 65% of my clients are MARRIED so where will they find good DISCRETE pros? Your guess is as good as mine. A good day to all and if you get to nola look me up and I will take good care of you!

[+ deej]

Of course "free speech"is a relative matter and what is "free" in Canada is not necessarily so in the USA and vice versa. We have much stricter rules in Canada about what contitutes "hate speech' than in the US. WE also have libel laws are are easier to invoke (Conrad Black, who recently got out of a US jail and is a former press baron, famously uses the courts to sue anyone who criticizes him and he no sooner got out of jail when he launched another suit).

 

On another front, we don't have the same pressure from the religious fanatics who would have everyone wearing sack and ashcloth. We are a confederation unlike the US and we have provinces like Quebec where social tolerance is much higher than in other areas of the country such as Alberta and parts of British Columbia (the Bible belt of Canada). Because of our constitution and the role that the provinces play in the justice system, the federal government has to tread lightly in these matters for fear of upsetting the balance of social consensus.

 

You forgot a more important factor here. Follow the money.

 

Craigslist has already successfully defended their free speech rights, at considerable expense to them. But where's the return?

 

Craig Newmark became a millionaire selling commercial real estate advertising and sucking blood out of headhunters on job ads. The rest of his site is completely free to users and brings him no income at all.

 

The rest of his site is completely 100% automated. No human intervention is involved. Why is the site so simple looking? Because there's less to break, and less overhead required to serve it up.

 

Enter the NSDG* crowd. They want craigslist to personally verify every post in the erotic services section. Since it's a worldwide site that means personnel to review and approve or reject every post in every language in every time zone around the world.

 

Return to craigslist for that investment: $0.00.

 

Faced with that business decision I'd probably toss it over the side too. But I may rub it in the NSDG crowd's nose by putting a CENSORED notice on it in the country affected.

 

Oh wait... he did.

 

*NSDG: nanny state do-gooders

[josephga]

Doesn't He still run this from a home or an apartment in SF? The claim is the profits from the adult service section went to charity. I agree as a business decision it was the best thing to do. The main reason government officials wanted this gone was due to pimps pimping out underage girls and women.

[+ deej]

There's an interesting article up on CNET that summarizes what's going on with this:

 

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-20015916-38.html

 

From the article:

 

Then there's the option of persuading Congress to rewrite

Section 230 of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, which says: "No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider." Translated, that means Craigslist isn't generally liable for what its users do.

 

But the law that immunizes Craigslist from lawsuit also protects Facebook, Blogspot, Flickr, and innumerable other Web sites. It lets news organizations, including CNET publisher CBS Interactive, permit readers to post comments without prior approval by an editor. It's probably no exaggeration to say that one sentence--inserted as part of negotiations over antiporn legislation--gave birth to Web 2.0 and modern social networks.

 

"Any attempt to reopen section 230 will inevitably invite a flurry of other proposals of how to deputize online intermediaries to handle any concern or pet grievance," says Berin Szoka, a senior fellow at the free-market Progress and Freedom Foundation. "Just limiting it to adult services or prostitution is naive."

If they start dicking around with §230, no social media site (or message board) is automatically safe. Inartful lawmaking will inadvertently shut some of them down, much the way the §2257 bullshit shut down some print publications.

 

Watch these developments closely, folks.