# Backpage just got shut down
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backpage-just-got-shut-down/811944
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [April 6, 2018, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backpage-just-got-shut-down/811944 "2018-04-06T23:14:58Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2018, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backpage-just-got-shut-down/811944/1 "2018-04-06T23:14:58Z")
I hope to god Craigslist doesn’t get shut down too.
Why can’t consenting adults just exchange money for sex? That would be far easier than shutting down webpages that offer a variety of uses outside of just prostitution.
Might as well ban cars because a few of them are used in drive by shootings.
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### Author:  [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2018, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backpage-just-got-shut-down/811944/2 "2018-04-06T23:49:17Z")
Uhhhhhh…
[Cragislist shuts down its personals section](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=851603)
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### Author:  [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2018, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backpage-just-got-shut-down/811944/3 "2018-04-06T23:57:08Z")
This smells like Sessions and the other Trumpy Jesus freaks.
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### Author:  [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)
#### Post date: [April 7, 2018, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backpage-just-got-shut-down/811944/4 "2018-04-07T00:05:22Z")
The article i read says this is unrelated to the new law that prompted Craig’s list to stop running personals, and instead is the culmination of a long investigation into the owners of the backpage site, who are accused of actually trafficking themselves, not just housing other people’s ads.
(WSJ, FBI Seizes [Backpage.com](http://Backpage.com), a Site Criticized for Sex-Related Ads [FBI Seizes Backpage.com, a Site Criticized for Sex-Related Ads - WSJ](https://www.wsj.com/articles/fbi-seizes-backpage-com-a-site-criticized-for-sex-related-ads-1523048024) )
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### Author:  [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)
#### Post date: [April 7, 2018, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backpage-just-got-shut-down/811944/5 "2018-04-07T00:06:24Z")
Hmm, maybe that’s not a proper BBQ pit response. Sorry.
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### Author:  [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)
#### Post date: [April 7, 2018, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backpage-just-got-shut-down/811944/6 "2018-04-07T00:16:53Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#):
>
> Uhhhhhh…
>
> [Cragislist shuts down its personals section](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=851603)
I know craigslist shut down their personals, but backpage in its entirety is shut down now. I don’t want that to happen to craigslist.
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### Author:  [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)
#### Post date: [April 7, 2018, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backpage-just-got-shut-down/811944/7 "2018-04-07T00:21:25Z")
FWIW, when I used to teach a human trafficking class, year after year any law enforcement person (local, state, FBI) I brought in would give examples of demonstrated cases of child sexual trafficking associated with Backpage. They pretty much all expressed the belief that it was a front for global trafficking.
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### Author:  [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)
#### Post date: [April 7, 2018, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backpage-just-got-shut-down/811944/8 "2018-04-07T00:51:00Z")
> [@susan](#):
>
> FWIW, when I used to teach a human trafficking class, year after year any law enforcement person (local, state, FBI) I brought in would give examples of demonstrated cases of child sexual trafficking associated with Backpage. They pretty much all expressed the belief that it was a front for global trafficking.
ok, well in that case I guess I’m wrong. And if the owners are involved, that is bad too.
My fear is that sites like craigslist that have a lot of valid uses other than prostituion are going to get shut down too.
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### Author:  [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)
#### Post date: [April 7, 2018, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backpage-just-got-shut-down/811944/9 "2018-04-07T01:09:06Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#):
>
> This smells like Sessions and the other Trumpy Jesus freaks.
This one is well-intentioned and strongly bipartisan asshattery. Who doesn’t want to protect minors and adults coerced into sexual slavery? Reps and Senators from both sides of the aisle lined up to support it.
It passed as the [Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017](https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/1865/all-actions?overview=closed&q=%7B%22roll-call-vote%22%3A%22all%22%7D).
> [@](#):
>
> 02/27/2018 On passage Passed by recorded vote: 388 - 25
> Passed Senate without amendment by Yea-Nay Vote. 97 - 2
Unfortunately faced with legal and civil liability whenever they miss a sex trafficing post, sites are choosing to err on the side of zero risk. Good intentions don’t necessarily produce good laws.
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### Author:  [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)
#### Post date: [April 7, 2018, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backpage-just-got-shut-down/811944/10 "2018-04-07T01:37:04Z")
> [@susan](#):
>
> FWIW, when I used to teach a human trafficking class, year after year any law enforcement person (local, state, FBI) I brought in would give examples of demonstrated cases of child sexual trafficking associated with Backpage. They pretty much all expressed the belief that it was a front for global trafficking.
Hm. By the exact same logic, I can prove the international postal system is a front for global trafficking and practically all other crime.
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### Author:  [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)
#### Post date: [April 7, 2018, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backpage-just-got-shut-down/811944/11 "2018-04-07T02:04:52Z")
> [@susan](#):
>
> FWIW, when I used to teach a human trafficking class …
Your phrasing is, uh, disturbing.
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### Author:  [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)
#### Post date: [April 7, 2018, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backpage-just-got-shut-down/811944/12 "2018-04-07T02:18:39Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#):
>
> This smells like Sessions and the other Trumpy Jesus freaks.
Been on law enforcement’s radar for a while. It’s one thing to have a website on which occasionally bad stuff happens; it’s another to know that the majority of a site’s revenue comes from illicit conduct.
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### Author:  [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)
#### Post date: [April 7, 2018, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backpage-just-got-shut-down/811944/13 "2018-04-07T02:22:58Z")
> [@Derleth](#):
>
> Hm. By the exact same logic, I can prove the international postal system is a front for global trafficking and practically all other crime.
No, because the overwhelming majority of postal traffic is mundane and not connected in any way to illicit conduct, despite the fact that illicit conduct occurs using the mail. Backpage could have started out with good intentions, but it would appear that they quickly realized that much of their revenue came from people paying for conduct that was illegal, both locally and federally. It wasn’t like Backpage’s owners didn’t have warning either.
I have no idea whether a jury will convict them of criminal behavior, but that doesn’t matter. They wouldn’t be in this position if they had been smarter and been aware that law enforcement viewed Backpage as an online thoroughfare for sex trafficking. The smart move would have to taken a cooperative stance, not a combative and defiant one, especially since there were real live victims.
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### Author:  [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)
#### Post date: [April 7, 2018, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backpage-just-got-shut-down/811944/14 "2018-04-07T02:42:04Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#):
>
> ok, well in that case I guess I’m wrong. And if the owners are involved, that is bad too.
>
> My fear is that sites like craigslist that have a lot of valid uses other than prostituion are going to get shut down too.
Hi, Wesley. My name is **Vinyl**. I’m your grief counselor. I’m here to help.
First, take a deep breath. Now let it out. _Good_.
Now, I want you to make a fist.
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### Author:  [@Dr.Crap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Crap)
#### Post date: [April 7, 2018, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backpage-just-got-shut-down/811944/15 "2018-04-07T02:44:34Z")
I’ll bet you 100 roses that this is temporary.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [April 7, 2018, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backpage-just-got-shut-down/811944/16 "2018-04-07T05:28:33Z")
Just as a random aside, one of my high school teachers was murdered a few years ago when a Backpage “date” went awry…
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### Author:  [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)
#### Post date: [April 7, 2018, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backpage-just-got-shut-down/811944/17 "2018-04-07T10:10:10Z")
How exactly does BP make money from trafficking though? It’s free to post.
I defended CL, because they at least _tried_ to keep out the riff raff, but I won’t defend BP, they know they’re doing wrong.
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### Author:  [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)
#### Post date: [April 7, 2018, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backpage-just-got-shut-down/811944/18 "2018-04-07T11:16:44Z")
I know a friend of a friend who has worked for them for over a decade. I’m sure that’s over, but he’s had to have known this was coming for years. He was laidoff when Village Voice sold it and at least 1 other time several years ago when they thought the govt was shutting them down for good then.
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### Author:  [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)
#### Post date: [April 7, 2018, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backpage-just-got-shut-down/811944/19 "2018-04-07T11:49:12Z")
> [@Grrr](#):
>
> How exactly does BP make money from trafficking though? It’s free to post.
>
> I defended CL, because they at least _tried_ to keep out the riff raff, but I won’t defend BP, they know they’re doing wrong.
The sex ads are paid ads. That is the revenue stream for Backpage.
This isn’t about blue-nosery about paying for sex, this is about the sexual enslavement of women and children.
The trouble with exchanging money for sex is that it isn’t exactly a free market of happy providers and happy customers. If you removed all the sex providers who for various reasons simply cannot get any less degrading dangerous work, those who are essentially enslaved, and children, I would guess the labor pool would be vastly reduced.
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### Author:  [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)
#### Post date: [April 7, 2018, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backpage-just-got-shut-down/811944/20 "2018-04-07T20:55:15Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#):
>
> ok, well in that case I guess I’m wrong. And if the owners are involved, that is bad too.
[The CEO of the adult classified ads portal Backpage was arrested in Texas Thursday [6 October 2016] on allegations of sex trafficking and pimping involving underage victims…](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/backpage-com-ceo-carl-ferrer-arrested-pimping-charges-n661426)
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