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Craigslist Post

Source: Kyle / Kyle Smelser

In an ocean of change, Craigslist stays the same: Bland site design, truly weird ads. It also happens to be where a lot of people go to find love, so when the personals ads disappeared, the internet hit the roof. Craigslist explained it by pointing to a law called SESTA-FOSTA, which is sprinting through Congress, and the law may be a lot worse than just taking down one personals section. In theory, at least, it could be used to wipe out any website.

  • SESTA-FOSTA has the noble goal of stopping sex trafficking: FOSTA is the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act, which passed the Senate 97-2 yesterday. It was combined with another bill, the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act, SESTA. The goals are great! The problem is how it gets there.
  • This bill wants to make any website accountable if it’s used for sex trafficking: Seems reasonable, right? But there are a few problems. One, the bill doesn’t have strict definitions. It just says that if you operate a website where you are aware, or design it for the express purpose, of facilitating sex trafficking, you may be exposed to liability. In other words, in theory, at least, you can argue any website with a comments section or a forum could “knowingly” be doing this, raising the specter of lawsuits. Another problem is that this applies retroactively, something that even the Justice Department said was probably unconstitutional.
  • The rules are so broad that abiding by them will be a mess: Craigslist isn’t an extreme example. Consider Tinder, Skype, Facebook, really any website where you can post words and pictures, some of which might be construed as taking money for sex. True, these platforms probably won’t meet the legal requirements. But why risk getting dragged into court? It’s cheaper to delete sections, implement restrictive filters, and otherwise make life more annoying on the internet.

 

READ MORE: Uproxx.com

Article Courtesy of Uproxx

First Picture Courtesy of Justin Sullivan and Getty Images

Second Picture Courtesy of Kyle Smelser

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