[Drukpa Kunley]

This Is A Bogus War On Internet Sex Work By The U.S. Congress

H.R. 1865 - FOSTA 2.0 - Republican Representative Bob Goodlatte rewrote the U.S. House Sex Trafficking Bill to Target All Prostitution


A 107 Year Old Federal Law Is Going To Be Used To Shut Down Provider Content Websites

The Mann Act - Read how a 107 year old law is suddenly relevant to online sex workers

Goodlatte’s FOSTA 2.0 amended the Mann Act, which Congress passed in 1910 during a national panic over a mythical scourge of “white slavery.”

The Mann Act makes it illegal to transport any person over state lines for purposes of prostitution. Goodlatte’s bill makes it illegal for "anyone who uses or operates, or even attempts to use or operate" — “a means of interstate or foreign commerce” — such as a website — “with the intent to promote or facilitate the prostitution of another person.”

A judge could sentence a guilty party to up to ten years in prison for this offense. That same judge could tack on an additional fifteen years for aggravating factors, such as promoting or facilitating the prostitution of five or more persons, or if the perpetrator acted “in reckless disregard of the fact such conduct contributed to sex trafficking.”

This bill carves out an exception for jurisdictions where brothels legally operate.

Goodlatte’s marked-up FOSTA 2.0 weakened and undermined Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 (CDA). Websites that “unlawfully promote and facilitate prostitution and contribute to sex trafficking" will now be prosecuted.

Last week, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee approved Chairman Bob Goodlatte's FOSTA 2.0 amendment which expands the bill's focus from internet sex trafficking to all forms of online prostitution.

Read the remarks below from U.S. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Republican Bob Goodlatte (Va.) that he gave during the House Judiciary Committee’s markup of H.R. 1865, the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017 (FOSTA 2.0) that was passed in the House last week by a vote of 388 to 25.


Republican Chairman Bob Goodlatte -

"This bill provides federal, state, and local prosecutors the tools needed to combat online prostitution and sex trafficking.

In the past few years, we’ve seen online prostitution and sex trafficking continue to grow at an alarming rate. Despite great efforts by law enforcement, young children and women are being advertised online brazenly for sex trafficking. Despite the fact prostitution is nearly universally illegal in the United States, online prostitution markets operate with virtual impunity. These markets provide an unregulated venue where sex trafficking flourishes.

It is no secret that these platforms sell women and children like chattel – to profit off of their misery, over and over again. The websites providing these platforms, without any regard for the victims being sold on it, must be held accountable.

Backpage.com is the most recognized name among these websites, and Backpage will certainly be held accountable. Congress cannot be tasked with investigating every website involved in operating these markets.

We must ensure law enforcement has the tools to investigate and prosecute these websites, so that these bad-actor websites are punished criminally and to unearth facts which may be pled in civil suits.

There are difficulties in prosecuting websites like Backpage for knowing facilitation of prostitution and sex trafficking.

A very effective approach in combating these websites is to charge them with the facilitation and promotion of prostitution. H.R. 1865 makes it a crime to use an interstate facility with the intent to promote or facilitate prostitution.

The connection between prostitution and sex trafficking is undeniable. 89 percent of women involved in prostitution want to escape. Prostitution is inherently harmful and dehumanizing and fuels sex trafficking.

H.R. 1865 provides an enhanced punishment for websites that promote prostitution, in reckless disregard of the fact that people are being trafficked on their platforms.

We also must ensure that local and state governments are able to use these tools, as many of the flourishing websites are regional. These websites are also too numerous to place these prosecutions solely in the hands of federal prosecutors.

H.R. 1865 makes explicit that state criminal laws which punish the same conduct underlying this new federal crime may be enforced without running afoul of the Communications Decency Act (CDA). The bill also explicitly permits state criminal laws to be enforced which punish the same conduct underlying the federal sex trafficking statute, in the event any local prosecutor may find it useful." - Republican Chairman Bob Goodlatte



Congress Delivered A Big Win For Internet Censorship

Dark Days are ahead for adult oriented online communities

Section 230 Of The Communications Decency Act of 1996 (CDA) Has Been Gutted

The U.S. Senate’s online sex-trafficking bill, the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act of 2017 (SESTA), created a broader standard of scienter for the federal sex-trafficking statute.

Scienter is a legal term that refers to the level of knowledge of wrongdoing necessary for someone to be guilty of a crime. SESTA defines “participation in a venture” as “knowingly assisting, supporting or facilitating” a sex-trafficking violation.

If a website were to remove some offensive material, a prosecutor could use that act as evidence of knowledge of wrongdoing.

Before being undermined, Section 230 use to immunize interactive websites against liability for content posted by its users. That created a “safe harbor” for website administrators to remove offensive material without fear that such an act might be used in court as evidence of “knowledge” that a crime has been committed.

Before being severely weakened, Section 230 would have protected web platforms and publishers from liability for the criminal conduct of their site users.

FOSTA 2.0 was also amended to include SESTA

FOSTA 2.0 makes "promoting prostitution" a federal crime, holds websites legally liable for user-posted content, and lets states retroactively prosecute offenders.

FOSTA 2.0 targets website platforms that allow user-generated content as well as adults consensually engaging in prostitution with sex workers.

FOSTA 2.0 explicitly criminalizes whoever "uses or operates" a facility or means of interstate or foreign commerce or attempts to do so with the intent to promote or facilitate the prostitution of another person.

FOSTA 2.0 guts Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA), which protected online platforms from being held liable for the speech of their users.

FOSTA 2.0 makes possible civil suits brought by state Attorneys General targeting advertisers on websites that enable communication about sex work.