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In response to the passage of the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA), Craigslist has removed Personals sections for U.S. users:
Classified advertising website Craigslist has closed its dating ads section in the US, in response to a new bill against sex trafficking.
The bill states that websites can now be punished for "facilitating" prostitution and sex trafficking.
Ads promoting prostitution and child sexual abuse have previously been posted in the "personals" section of Craigslist.
The company said keeping the section open in the US was too much of a risk.
In a statement, Craigslist said the new law would "subject websites to criminal and civil liability when third parties (users) misuse online personals unlawfully".
Reddit also took the opportunity to ban a number of subreddits (list not exhaustive), including some like /r/escorts, but many more broadly related to "transactions for goods and services".
Also at Ars Technica and The Verge.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday March 27 2018, @01:16PM (4 children)
Depends on where you live, I guess. I've sold a few smaller things through CL (including a vinyl record collection) and even bought a $2500 car through a CL ad (plus in-person visit, test drive, etc.) a few years ago. The site itself feels creepy, but the actual people I've dealt with have been fine.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 3, Informative) by zafiro17 on Tuesday March 27 2018, @05:20PM (3 children)
I've also had good luck with Craigslist, and been exposed to a handful of scammers. But they tell you how to deal with it right on their front page, or when you post something for sale. The number one rule is: deal in person with your buyer/seller. None of this escrow, money transfer via wire service, ship it postpaid, crap. Post your belongings, ask for a phone number from anyone who contacts you about it, go from there. I've had good experiences, and bought and sold some useful things. All the scammers reveal themselves immediately through their idiocy.
If Craigslist needs any single improvement, it's a button that lets you send the idiot spammer/scammer a small electric shock through their phone.
As for the end of sex personals - probably for the best and more trouble than it was worth. Guarantee you some other company will emerge this week, to take up the slack.
Dad always thought laughter was the best medicine, which I guess is why several of us died of tuberculosis - Jack Handey
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday March 27 2018, @07:26PM (2 children)
Yeah, I wouldn't even think about mailing/wiring payment (of any form) for something that _might_ be sent to me later by anybody on any anonymous message board....
As for the sex personals, seems like it would be easier for everybody involved if there were a major site or two or five where everybody knew where/what they were... doesn't have to be CL, but would be a lot easier to deal with known possibly lightly regulated entities rather than fly-by-nite operations. I know, the Puritan answer is that nobody has sex unless you are unfortunate enough to be bound in an irrevocable life bondage and anomalies such as Sarah Palin's daughter are to be denied/ignored/covered up as best as possible.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 28 2018, @12:40AM
Yeah, this is what I'm most concerned with (aside from incompetent and vengeful lawmakers). What are all those scammers going to do with their time now that they're not spending it on CL personals?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 28 2018, @05:05AM
CL does a great job doing what they do, so does EBAY, so does Tinder.
CL is not Iinder, nor is it EBAY.