Online sex ads likely to use new sites

Craigslist appears to have surrendered to heavy pressure over the erotic ads posted on its website by shutting down its adult services section. But authorities are not convinced the move by the country's leading classified advertising service will curb the availability of prostitution and child exploitation on the Internet.

‘Now no child will be sold for sex through this website’ – Backpage shut down by US authorities

US law enforcement agencies have seized the sex marketplace website Backpage.com as part of an enforcement action by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, according to a posting on the Backpage website on Friday. US law enforcement agencies have seized the sex marketplace website Backpage.com as part of an enforcement action by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, according to a posting on the Backpage website on Friday.

Tech Firms Open to Changing Law to Combat Sex Trafficking

Silicon Valley has long argued that any change to the law would hamper free speech and destroy the internet as we know it. Now, outrage over sex trafficking, mixed with growing unease about Silicon Valley's economic and political clout, may be pushing tech companies to loosen their grip on the shield.

Missouri attorney general fights Backpage.com lawsuit

Missouri's top law enforcement official on Tuesday asked a court to dismiss a Backpage.com lawsuit that seeks to stop him from investigating the company, calling it "totally frivolous." Backpage sued Attorney General Josh Hawley last month over his investigation, arguing federal law and the First Amendment bar claims against the Dallas-headquartered website, which hosts classified ads from around the world.

Backpage.com lawyers want executives’ pimping charges tossed

In this Jan. 10, 2017 file photo from left, Backpage.com CEO Carl Ferrer, former owner James Larkin, COO Andrew Padilla, and former owner Michael Lacey, are sworn-in on Capitol Hill in Washington, prior to testifying before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee hearing into Backpage.com's alleged facilitation of online ... (more)

Backpage.com still appears to be running ads for prostitutes, sexual services

Backpage.com, the online website accused of complicity in teenage sex trafficking across the country, said this week it was closing its "adult" sections in which advertisers solicited sexual services. It did so when a U.S. Senate investigative committee concluded Backpage knowingly assisted pimps and traffickers.

The Latest: Backpage attorney blasts raid, CEO’s arrest

The Latest on the arrest of the CEO of adult classified ad portal Backpage.com and the raid of his Dallas offices : The attorney for Backpage.com is blasting the raid on the online classified ad portal's Dallas headquarters and the arrest of chief executive Carl Ferrer as "an election year stunt" on the part of the California attorney general and "not a good-faith action by law enforcement." In a statement issued Friday, Backpage general counsel Liz McDougall said "the actions of the California and Texas attorneys general are flatly illegal" and "ignore the holdings of numerous federal courts that the First Amendment protects the ads on Backpage.com."

Lawyer: Backpage.com CEO will fight sex trafficking charges

Handcuffed and dressed in an orange jail jumpsuit, the chief executive of an internet site authorities accuse of being "a hub for the illegal sex trade" waived extradition to California today, and his attorney vowed to fight the "trumped up" sex trafficking and money laundering charges he faces. Backpage.com Chief Executive Officer Carl Ferrer was arrested Thursday and his Dallas headquarters was raided after officials in California accused him of felony pimping a minor, pimping, and conspiracy to commit pimping.

Backpage.com loses another round in its fight with Sen. Rob Portman

Backpage.com, the classified-ad website accused by U.S. Sen. Rob Portman of being complicit in child prostitution, failed today to get an appeals court to order Portman and his investigative committee to back off. The company has asserted a First Amendment right against interference with a publisher, and said its CEO, Carl Ferrer, was denied due-process rights.

Backpage.com loses bid to claim freedom of press shield against Congress

Backpage.com, one of the Internet's largest sex-service websites, lost its bid Friday to claim protection under the First Amendment when a federal appeals court ruled the company must turn over internal files to Congress . Senate investigators have been looking into whether Backpage does enough to screen out human trafficking victims, but company CEO Carl Ferrer has fought a subpoena, arguing he and his fellow employees are protected under the Constitution as online publishers.