Following SESTA, Backpage.com was seized by authorities on Friday and its two founders along with five other executives have been charged. The Arizona home of Michael Lacey, one of the founders, was also raided.
The Phoenix U.S. Attorney’s office revealed on Monday that cofounders Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin and seven other defendants were facing 93 federal charges relating to conspiring to knowingly facilitate prostitution offenses and charges for money laundering using crypto-currency. It was also discovered that employees had altered keywords to remove criminal trigger words like “lolita” and “rape” amongst others from posts, including posts advertising child sex trafficking.
The charges have been deemed “baseless” and the site seizure a “massive assault” on free speech laws by one of the co-founders lawyer.
Most people believe the event applaudable but sex workers disagree. They claim that irrespective of the shady activities of Backpage, it and other sites kept them safe from the even shadier underground of the sex economy. Their complaints fall on deaf ears however as conservatives are unwilling to listen and are of the view that the whole sex trade should be left to crumble. And with the passage of the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017, or FOSTA, websites liable to conduct prostitution on their platforms would face a reprisal, with consequences including up to 10 years in prison. It has caused several sites to remove information sex workers say they need from their webpage. The Women’s March has attacked FOSTA with supporting statements to the sex workers complaints and that “sex workers rights are women’s rights” but the Justice Department is of the view that FOSTA and Backpage’s seizure is to uphold women’s rights.
