CONCLUSION: Craigslist no longer acts as a platform for personal advertisements after Congress passes a bill to fight sex trafficking.
By Alex Flores, Staff Writer
Furniture and roommates are still accessible on Craigslist, but casual hookups, among other things, will have to be found elsewhere. Craigslist hosts ads that include housing, job postings, items for sale, services, and personals — all of which are created by its users. By doing so, the site provides users with a way of connecting to other people within their communities. However, Craigslist has ceased hosting personal ads after Congress passed the Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA) on March 23rd 2018. This bill holds websites accountable for the content users post that could contribute to sex trafficking.
Up until 2009, Craigslist had an “erotic services” section where people could openly advertise sex. In that same year, a medical student in Boston was accused of killing a woman he met through the site. Craigslist responded by changing “erotic services” to “adult services” and assuring more rigorous evaluation for the content posted. The site stopped listing ads for the “adult services” section in the following year, but has maintained its personals section until now.
The personals section was most commonly used as a dating platform for those looking for casual sex. However, click on the wrong advertisement and you risk the possibility of something going awfully bad: rape, murder, or sex trafficking, as you never really know who you are dealing with. “We can’t take such risk without jeopardizing all our other services, so we are regretfully taking craigslist personals offline. Hopefully we can bring them back some day. To the millions of spouses, partners and couples who met through craigslist, we wish you every happiness,” Craigslist posted.
The millions of spouses, partners, and couples that met through Craigslist can surely wish every happiness to the millions of women, men, and children that have been subjected to sex trafficking and other crimes.