U.S. Senators: Want to change Internet laws to hold Backpage liable for sex trafficking
A bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced legislation Tuesday that aims to make it easier to sue and criminally prosecute operators of online classified sites like Backpage.com that have been used to advertise sex workers.
The proposed bill would amend the Communications Decency Act to eliminate a provision that shields operators of websites from being liable for content posted by third-party users.
In addition to removing liability protections for websites that facilitate “unlawful sex acts with sex trafficking victims,” lawmakers are seeking to amend the CDA to allow state prosecutors — not just federal law enforcement — to take action against individuals and businesses that use websites to violate federal sex trafficking laws.
"For too long, courts around the country have ruled that Backpage can continue to facilitate illegal sex trafficking online with no repercussions," said Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio. "The Communications Decency Act is a well-intentioned law, but it was never intended to help protect sex traffickers who prey on the most innocent and vulnerable among us. This bipartisan, narrowly crafted bill will help protect vulnerable women and young girls from these horrific crimes.”
The legislative push marks the latest effort by federal lawmakers to go after Backpage, the controversial website that the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children says accounts for 73% of child sex trafficking reports in the U.S.
Law enforcement and anti-trafficking advocates have long sought to hold the operators of Backpage responsible through civil lawsuits, charging that operators have knowingly facilitated sex trafficking by providing a cloak of anonymity for pimps and making it easy for johns to use the site to arrange meetings with prostitutes.
Lawmakers have been ratcheting up the pressure against the Dutch-owned, Texas-headquartered company over the last several months.
Last week, Portman and Sens. Tom Carper, D-Del., and Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., announced they formally recommended the Justice Department launch a criminal investigation of Backpage.
In addition to Portman and McCaskill, who launched the two-year-long Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations probe into Backpage's business, 13 Republicans and five Democrats announced their support of the bill to alter the CDA.
"Until our investigation showed Backpage was actively facilitating sex trafficking, the company had repeatedly used the federal law that protects online platforms to escape accountability for the disgusting crimes it aided," McCaskill said in a statement. "But even as we’ve helped deny Backpage its legal shield in these cases, we need a broader effort to stop the next Backpage, before it starts."
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...ing/528493001/