Craigslist Execs, State AGs to Discuss "Prostitution" Ads

Attorneys general look to hold the online classifieds site accountable for posting ads for illegal activities, such as prostitution, in light of the Craigslist murderer case.

By Sharon Gaudin
Tue, May 05, 2009

Computerworld — Less than two weeks after the CEO of Craigslist Inc. said the company keeps ads for prostitution off its Web site, Attorneys General from Missouri, Connecticut and Illinois are holding a meeting with company executives Tuesday in New York to wrestle with that very issue.

Craigslist Killer Throws Spotlight on Erotic Ads

Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster said in an online post that the Attorneys General are looking to negotiate an end to the questionable ads on the popular online classified ads site that is known for letting people selling everything from old sofas and bicycles to escort services and massages.

Craigslist is allowing advertisements for illegal activities like prostitution on its site, Koster said in a statement. It is blatant. It is irresponsible. It is illegal. Craigslist is responsible for the types of advertisements it allows, and it is imperative that Craigslist agree to tougher restrictions and to remove ads for illegal activities from its site.

Craigslist did not respond to a request for comment on the meeting.

Koster added that his office has been investigating Craigslist and its advertisements, and has found many instances where ads remained up on the site even though they had been flagged as illegal.

Our investigators found advertisements that clearly were offering sex-for-money or seeking a sex-for-money relationship on Craigslist's Kansas City, St. Louis, Columbia/Jefferson City and Springfield sites, Koster said. These arrangements advertised are not only illegal but dangerous, and we aim to stop this type of advertising in Missouri.

While there has been sporadic debate about the legality of the ads in the Erotic Services category on Craigslist, a spotlight was shined on the issue last month after Boston University medical student Philip Markoff was arrested and arraigned for allegedly murdering one woman and kidnapping and assaulting another -- both of whom he found in erotic services ads on Craigslist.

On Monday, Markoff was also charged with assault and weapons for allegedly holding a gun to a woman in a Rhode Island hotel on an April 16. The woman told police that she had met her assailant through an advertisement on Craigslist.

Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster told Computerworld in an interview last month that the company works hard to filter out advertisements for prostitution.

"The Erotic Services category was added at the request of our users who were seeing ads for escort services and massage parlors and they wanted them placed under a single category under a warning screen," Buckmaster told Computerworld. "It's intended only for legal businesses to post, and anything illegal is not wanted there and is removed by staff."

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