Craigslist Puts "Censored" Tag on Adult Services Section

By: Charles Cooper
Topics: In The News ,; Tech Talk

Craigslist has deactivated its adult services section

(Credit: CBS News)

Craigslist has deactivated its adult services section in the United States, leaving in its place the word "censored" in bold black and white.

It's still not clear whether this means that the classified ads site has taken down the section, something that 17 attorneys general recently demanded in an open letter. They said that Craigslist could not adequately block potentially illegal ads promoting prostitution and child trafficking.

Craigslist did not immediately return a request for comment.

Last year Craigslist changed the name of the section from erotic services to adult services. At the time, the company said it would put in place a manual screening process and review postings before publishing. But that has not stemmed criticism and state officials maintain that Craigslist has not done enough to block illegal ads.

The most recent dust-up involved the case involving former Boston University student, Philip Markoff, who was accused of killing a masseuse he met through Craigslist. On Aug. 15, Markoff committed suicide in the Boston jail where he was awaiting trial.

Also in August, a 17-year-old girl claimed in a half-page advertisement in the Washington Post that she had been sold for sex through ads taken out on Craigslist.

Jim Buckmaster, Craigslist CEO, said at the time that it hadn't been able to verify the account. He added that the company does not promote prostitution.

But this has become a hot political issue, as evidenced by the list of state AG's signing their names to the petition pressing Craigslist to move with more alacrity. TechCrunch, which first noticed the relabeling, noted in its post that "Craigslist Sex is what scares the general population, and it's what the press and the politicians will continue to use to get their hits and votes. So the Craigslist Adult Section was removed. Is the world now a safer place?"

Charles Cooper is an executive editor at CNET News. He has covered technology and business for more than 25 years, working at CBSNews.com, the Associated Press, Computer & Software News, Computer Shopper, PC Week, and ZDNet. E-mail Charlie.

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by oliviapedn December 19, 2011 12:06 PM EST: They shut down craigslist, so why is backpage allowed to stay open? All of these sites are the same, if you close one another one will be open. If you close backpage now another will take it's place like http://www.classivox.com for example...; Reply to this comment


by peterpaulpeter December 19, 2010 10:33 AM EST: reading through these comments i noticed mostly women are behind the movement to stop prostitution and their adds. i once shared an apartment with a now famous country singer before he rose to fame. apart from good looks he obviously had skill picking up girls, good-looking chicks and brought them to his bedroom for a ****. i saw almost every night he arrived with a different girl. i was not so lucky and not so well endowed with good looks and skill and had to pay for sex. i usually got what i bargained for and treated the prostitudes with respect and dignity but did not feel happy about it afterwards. now just like these girls got their fantasies fulfilled with my roommate i got mine satisfied with the pay-for-play girls and some of them told me about their finacial dilemma they were in such as having a baby to support and no job, etc. i helped her and she helped me and there is little difference between marriage and prostitution except of course the risks of catching a disease if you don't take precautions. i am not recommending prostitution but it provides an outlet for the less fortunate men and it is better than raping a girl. so stay out of what two consenting adults do behind closed doors, it's none of your business whatsoever !!! and don't make men out as some ***** emotionless bastards who just want to **** a girl and run because i see you girls throwing your hotel room keys and notes with your phone #s on the stage for some rock stars or mail strippers. so let the girls advertise their services where they want and treat them with respect and dignity.; Reply to this comment

by carolhill814 September 9, 2010 12:15 PM EDT

I know people are saying this comes under Freedom of Speech but it really doesn't this is common sense not to put ads for lose girls and for men to pick them up on line and that is a fact.

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by peterpaulpeter December 19, 2010 9:35 AM EST: it is none of your ******* business what two consenting adults do behind closed doors, these asian girls know what they come to the usa or canada for, why don't you talk to them and find out yourelf and as for the caucasion prostitudes they are in for the bucks and even when they have amassed small fortunes don't want to quit this biz. the asian girls have done this business in their homelands and yes have been trafficked or aided by the gang members to come here who then profit from the moneys the girls make. they are like an employment agency for the girls. the girls provide an outlet for these ***** healthy guys, like myself, who otherwise might rape some girl. these girls should be aided to get out of this business if they want to and given landed immigrant status if you have any shred of compassion and if you are human and not some **********,selfish, old and fat ******* american ugly bag who nobody wants to **** and now wants to prevent access for men to find relief for their itchy balls, relief because their wives don't want to **** them any more or they are single and have problems finding a girl. look at the legislation that prevents american men from directly contacting mail order brides because you ******* ugly bags don't like competition, well, nobody wants to **** you, except maybe some stupid pervert. the typical american woman is an abomination of creation, all they want is take a guy for what they can get out of him and if something goes wrong like the poor struggling man looses his job they want to take the man to the "cleaners" that's the blood-sucking attorneys and judges who profit from the spoils of the "kill",and who by the way **** around with the most brautiful girls because they got the money. so now since the marriages mostly end in failures don't get in my way if i need a piece of ass to relieve my itchy balls with some young gorgeus asian chick behind closed doors and charges me a reasonable amount. it's none of your ******* business whatsoever!!!


by AnnieDanny September 9, 2010 12:15 PM EDT: Craigslist has highlighted the CENSORED section with a bold black block with white letters... Seems to be their way of lodging a protest, because it's very noticeable on their menu but it's not an active link: can't click on it.

I agree with Caring Kate, that true "freedom" must have boundaries. I think we've gone way past the safety zone on a whole lot of things.; Reply to this comment


by babooph September 9, 2010 12:14 PM EDT: Politicians DEMAND the site go down! Must be pressure from the pimp lobby....; Reply to this comment


by mecanik-2009 September 5, 2010 12:40 PM EDT: It's about time they came to their senses. It took too long to do though. I suspect the owners of Craigslist were frequenters of the erotic services offered in their ads.; Reply to this comment


by rafaeldrc September 5, 2010 11:22 AM EDT: I remember, once upon a time, prostitutes lining the streets, beginning at sunset and loitering until 4 AM looking for the last of drunken customers to roll by and buy their services. The police would make round-ups and make their work difficult, impound cars and cart off "Johns". The sex workers would move to another part of town, the merchants would complain and the cycle would start all over again.

I noticed about 10 years ago that the street walkers had disappeared. It seemed strange that the oldest profession had gone defunct but in reading Craig's List, I discovered that the internet had removed them from the street and taken them direct to the customer via phone call or email.

Having traveled the world I've come to know that prostitution is everywhere. That's why it is the world's oldest profession. Humans are humans no matter where you go. And when you hear that politicians have been caught with male or female prostitutes, it all come to rest on the issue of being human and biological in need. You cannot escape sex. It is a driving desire beyond the intellectual and needs to be expressed. Unfortunately, we, as a society, are hypocrites, thinking their is something wrong with finding sexual solace via a contract. Prostitution is a victim-less "crime".

Puritanical societies are not happy societies. They squelch many forms of expression but the easiest target is human sexuality.

Prostitution isn't going to go away. It's best to let it exist. Craig's List provided a real service to society, in that, it removed prostitution from the streets and kept the reality of humanism out of view of the puritanical.

As for the child predators, they will find another way beyond Craig's List. The difference between child predation and prostitution is that... a child is a real victim.; Reply to this comment


by Nikos_Retsos September 5, 2010 10:52 AM EDT: It is quite naive to believe that the scourge and smut of prostitution will fade away now that Craigslist closed the adult section. It is still there, Yes, on Craigslist. The prostitutes have just migrated to the Craigslist's "Therapeutic" section and advertise for massages - as many did before in the "Adult Services"
section. The whole brouhaha is just a mirage! And unless the "Therapeutic" section is closed, the smut sex trade at Craiglist will go on forever - under the "Therapeutic" section. Surely, there are legitimate and licensed massage parlors that operate legally, but all prostitutes should be expected to move there now and
re-word their ads. They would certainly not go out of business, not they will go back at the dark street corners to find johns.

And that reminds me "The Great Wildebeest Migration" in Africa's Serengeti plains, where the 1.000.000 wildebeest herd migrates north for green grass during the dry season in the Serengeti. And that is what the prostitutes are doing now on Craigslist. The are migrating to the "Therapeutic" section which is still "a green pasture" for prostitution! The same old sex trade - but just under a "different label!!!" Let's not, therefore, celebrate the demise of the prostitution now that Craigslist closed the "Adult" services section.

The world's oldest profession is still alive and well. Easy money for prostitutes, extra income for doctors, clinics and hospitals to treat the diseases spread by the trade, and certainly a bonanza for pharmaceutical companies that make $ billions annually from drugs sold to treat infectious diseases. And with the big sway and clout the hospital and pharmaceutical industry has in the U.S. Congress with their hefty political contributions, we should not expect a federal law to take prostitution out of business. Money made in the sex trade greases many wheels in our society, and the shame belongs to all of us.

Prostitution survives and thrive as the constitutional right of "Free Speech!" Too bad for the rest of us fools who still refuse to remove our clothes before we start speaking! Nikos Retsos, retired professor; Reply to this comment


by Jeremy_Zweiback September 5, 2010 9:12 AM EDT: It must be midterm elections. Thank you attorney generals (including in country Vietnam veteran himself Blumenthal) for finally putting an end to prostitution.; Reply to this comment

by Caring Kate September 4, 2010 10:00 PM EDT

Craig's list had no choice, or ultimately risk facing charges of being part of criminal activity. We'll have to watch now to see if Craig's list is a truly legitimate provider. We'll know they are not, if they somehow ?rename" a service that provides the same criminal contacts. To those who commented while proclaiming that "freedom" has been compromised, please remember that freedom only reaches the boundary of harming and/or violating the welfare of others. That's where it stops, has always stopped and will always stop. Trying to legitimize the harming of others through the guise of "freedom cries" does not work, has not worked and will never work.

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by formrusmcsgt September 5, 2010 7:27 AM EDT: MArkoff could have targeted prostitutes off the street about as easily as he did through Craig's list.

THe US often holds unrealistic and unenforceable puritanical positions through its laws.

Prostitution is legal here in NV and you don't have the "complete societal breakdown" occuring here that opponents of prostitution claim occurs should it be legal.