Connecticut Attorney General's Office
Press Release
Attorney General Leads 21 States In Calling On Backpage To Close Adult Services Section
September 21, 2010
Attorney General Richard Blumenthal today led 21 states including Connecticut in calling on backpage.com to close its adult services section to fight prostitution, human trafficking and sexual exploitation of children.
Blumenthal’s request comes after craigslist earlier this month complied with his and other attorneys’ general request that the site shut down its adult services section.
Craigslist and backpage are two of the nation’s largest online classified ad websites and account for about $47.5 million of the $63 million in online prostitution ads expected this year, according to a recent study by the Advanced Interactive Media Group.
Blumenthal also urged backpage to take steps to prevent migration of prostitution ads into its personals section, including flagging and screening systems and manually reviewing all such ads.
“I urge backpage to follow craigslist’s lead and immediately close its adult services section,” Blumenthal said. “Adult services sections are little more than online brothels, enabling human trafficking and sexual exploitation of women and children. Because backpage cannot properly police adult services, the section should be shut down immediately. Backpage has a moral -- if not legal -- obligation to purge ads that promote trafficking and sexual abuse of women and children.
“Backpage is expected to earn this year an estimated $17.5 million from prostitution ads and craigslist $30 million. Websites should not profit from prostitution and exploitation of women and children -- as craigslist recently recognized and backpage hopefully will. An adult services shutdown by both sites would remove more than half the prostitution ads on the Internet, a significant victory in the fight against trafficking and sexual exploitation of minors.
“Backpage should act aggressively to prevent prostitution ads from infecting its personals and other sections. The site should consider flagging and screening systems, manual reviews and additional measures to inoculate other areas against ads facilitating prostitution and human trafficking.
“I will continue fighting online prostitution ads that enable crimes with real victims -- women and children who are brutalized and trafficked.”
In addition to Connecticut, states calling on backpage to close adult services are: Arkansas, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
View full letter to backpage.com - (PDF-140KB)