CRAIGSLIST Posts Explicit Ads

So You Want A Used Car, an Old Couch or an Escort?

A reader of The Church Report magazine recently sent me an e-mail urging me to visit a website called Craigslist.org. Already having heard of this site, famous for its no frills opportunities to sell everything from used cars to grandma’s old couch and even look for a new job, I was curious to see what the urgency of this reader’s message was.

After surfing the site for just two minutes I quickly discovered the issue. Much to my disgust, Craigslist, 25 percent of which is owned by online auctioneer Ebay, has its very own erotic section, touting the services or escorts!” With a click of my mouse, I was viewing a selection of ads much too lewd and tawdry to publish in my column. I read ad after ad for women offering illicit sexual services for fees and incredibly, most of them posted pictures that would make even their own mothers blush!

Wanting to get to the root of the problem, I contacted Craig Newmark, founder of the now infamous, Craigslist. He responded with a tone that Craigslist does not support prostitution and does not condone such ads on his site. Shortly after, I sent several questions to Mr. Jim Buckmaster, president of Craigslist. While Mr. Buckmaster pointed out that “illegal activities on Craigslist are strictly prohibited” and that community users were prompted to police themselves with a flagging system. Unfortunately, he also had this to say about his erotic page: “advertising escort services it perfectly legal; it is very difficult, if not impossible, to know by reading an ad whether the service being advertised is an escort service or prostitution.”
Does this seem ridiculous to you? Does this seem like splitting hairs? If it is too difficult to discern, should he even be posting these ads to his web site? My follow up question, that went unanswered was simple, does any type of adverting posted that involves explicit sexual services for money that includes a lewd photo deserve the attention of his business? The countless issues with pornography and online predators is great enough, do we now have to accept that a seemingly innocuous online garage sale now offers sexual services? Having sensed that I struck a nerve, I asked Mr. Buckmaster whether he thought that since his site was not a secure site and children could access it, is this appropriate content? He abruptly changed his focus to the “pandemic of Christian clergy involved in sexual misconduct.” Nice try, Mr. Buckmaster, but that answer is not going to work!

The Internet is a community. Craigslist is a community. There is more smut on the Internet every day, at what point do we all say, enough is enough? At what point do we decide that the issue is not debating the legalities of prostitution versus escort services? I suggest that today is that day. Join me in contacting Craigslist at craig@craigslist.org, and tell them that escorts and prostitutes do not belong on any web site, including Craigslist.