Blogs Sep 27, 2011 at 5:28 pm

Backpage Responds to America's AGs, but Washington's Rob McKenna Isn't Moved

Eli Sanders
Back to article

Comments

1
Way to overreach there, McKenna.

Backpage needs to address the issue of the ease in which underage prostitutes get advertised on their site. But calling for the entire adult services section to be shut down is like swatting a fly with a sledge hammer. And Backpage is correct that such demands violate the 1st Amendment.

Stop trying to pick a fight you can't win, just to win the votes of the pearl-clutchers, McKenna.
Reverse Polarity on September 27, 2011 at 5:46 PM Report this
2
Pimping kids: A Constitutionally Protected™ right!
Zebes on September 27, 2011 at 6:12 PM Report this
3
The letter suggests the ISP's working hard to prevent underagers getting listed, and to get the law on it when they do.

But how can that matter, when there are AGs out there struggling to reach their governor's mansions somehow - helping even one of these brave souls reach higher office makes any First Amendment violation completely worth it. Because, you know, they care a lot.
gloomy gus on September 27, 2011 at 6:20 PM Report this
4
@2 for the Libertarian "Slavery is Freedom" win!
Will in Seattle on September 27, 2011 at 6:35 PM Report this
5
Does anyone actually think that this will do anything to reduce the number of kids who are exploited? There are countless sites this could move to, many of which are going to even less likely to comply than backpage or who might not be located in the US at all. Why should they incur huge costs are likely lose plenty of adult business to do nothing but drive traffic elsewhere?

Seems like a colossal waste of time.
giffy on September 27, 2011 at 8:46 PM Report this
6
Look, the PNW is basically a high tech mining town.

There's too many Y-chromosome attractors like Boeing, Microsoft and the military for any type of long term "courtship" to occur.

Enter the whores...same as during all of our long, long history. It's either that or porn. And if not that...what...the ratio of "good girls" to dudes is about 100:3 around here.
Supreme Ruler Of The Universe on September 27, 2011 at 8:51 PM Report this
7
I think we should put all them prostitutes on an island and let 'em have SEX with each other!
on September 27, 2011 at 9:10 PM Report this
8
And why might prostitution disproportionately harm children? Why, because it is part of a black market in which the participants of the market cannot expect/demand adequate police protection.

Btw, just how does prostitution itself hurt children? If it is between two consenting adults, it cannot - unless you want to bring in some bullshit gender theory which devalues the moral character of all participants through some magic, vaguely God-inspired logic.
sahara29 on September 27, 2011 at 9:56 PM Report this
9
@3, @5 FTW's.

'"The adult services section should be shut down,” McKenna said. “Prostitution disproportionately harms kids, runaways and former victims of child sexual abuse. It’s unfortunate that businesses like Backpage.com profit from that kind of exploitation.”'

Even though NaughtyNW requires in person ID to be shown, there have to be pimped out, exploited escorts advertising at NaughtyNW. Plus, by advertising at Backpage and/or NaughtyNW, the exploiters and abusers are only setting themselves up to be caught by advertising in such very public forums. CRACK DOWN ON THE PIMPS AND TRAFFICKERS, NOT THE INDEPENDENT PROVIDERS TRYING TO MAKE A LIVING!
Smell on September 28, 2011 at 12:19 AM Report this
10
Me thinks these AD's might want to talk to some actual experts in the subject. You know cops and FBI agents who specialize in human trafficking, child porn and the like. I know quite a few people in that field and every one of them is shaking their heads and laughing at these idiots. Going after Craigslist was one of biggest missteps in the campaign to curb these sorts of crimes. Mostly because Craigslist cooperated freely with law enforcement and had excellent back end record keeping. Backpage much less so, and now that VVM is under pressure all those crimes are still taking place. They're just being brokered through increasingly obscure, harder to investigate venues. You know those sexy chat lines you see advertised on late night TV? Yeah those are pretty much the newest/biggest venue for this sort of thing now. Call in from the right kind of prepaid phone and law enforcement are in for a nightmare.
on September 28, 2011 at 1:12 AM Report this
11
As long as the website does everything in it's power to prevent illegal activities, then it is constitutionally protected. There is no 100%, sure fire method of preventing such incidents from happening, at best they could hire more staff to watch for such activities, but that's about it. Free speech has a small price to pay, and the internet is the last real medium in which free speech is allowed and therefore should be protected from politicians. We let them take over radio and television, which was inevitable because there was a need to police it beyond just enforcing the real life laws, but online there is no need for special case laws to be made, ever.
KittenKoder on September 28, 2011 at 4:26 AM Report this

Please wait...

Comments are closed.

Commenting on this item is available only to members of the site. You can sign in here or create an account here.


Add a comment
Preview
Posted by (your name here)

By posting this comment, you are agreeing to our Terms of Use.

Editors' Picks

Forced Out: The New Girl
My Mom Came to Visit This Weekend
City Attorney’s Focus on “High Utilizers” Helps No One
Forced Out: The Electrical Engineer
The Stranger’s Endorsements for the August 1, 2023, Primary Election
Why Gen X Sucks
The Stranger
is a proud member of the media network
Masthead Ad Info & Rates Jobs at The Stranger Contact Privacy Policy Terms of Use Takedown Policy Find The Stranger Near You
Support The Stranger
All contents © Index Newspapers LLC
800 Maynard Ave S, Suite 200, Seattle, WA 98134