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takyon writes:

Backpage's CEO Carl Ferrer took a plea deal one day before the site got shut down:

The CEO and co-founder of the classified ad website Backpage.com cut a plea deal with state and federal prosecutors, admitting that he knew that the site had become a massive online marketplace for prostitution. Carl Ferrer, 57, agreed to plead guilty to charges in state courts in Texas and California and federal charges in Arizona in a bid to resolve an array of criminal investigations he was facing over his role in the site. The plea deal appears to limit Ferrer's total potential prison time to no more than five years.

"I have long been aware that the vast majority of these advertisements are, in fact, advertisements for prostitution services (which are not protected by the First Amendment and which are illegal in 49 states and much of Nevada)," Ferrer acknowledged in a written statement that was part of the plea bargain.

During a lengthy Senate investigation, Ferrer and other Backpage officials insisted they were policing the website aggressively to remove such advertising. However, Ferrer admitted in the plea deal that those efforts were just window dressing. "I worked with my co-conspirators to create 'moderation' processes through which Backpage would remove terms and pictures that were particularly indicative of prostitution and then publish a revised version of the ad," he said in the plea document. "It was merely intended to create a veneer of deniability for Backpage."

The Washington Post reports that Ferrer agreed to testify against co-founders Michael Lacey and James Larkin.

The organizers of the Women's March have tweeted their opposition to the Backpage shutdown. Some conservatives are not amused, but sex workers have been critical of the shutdown and the passage of the SESTA law:

"Girls are going back to the streets and they are going to die in the streets, and nobody cares," said Calida, a mother of two, who said she used to do street work and fears she will have to start again to make ends meet. "Everybody is terrified."

Texas Attorney General statement, California Attorney General statement, and DoJ statement. Also at LA Times, NYT, and Ars Technica.

realDonaldTrump writes:

"Yesterday, President Trump signed the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017 (FOSTA), which gives both law enforcement officials and victims new tools to fight sex trafficking. Read more in today's 1600 Daily: 45.wh.gov/HHLb37"
9:02 AM - 12 Apr 2018" twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/984461642879643648

[takyon Note: SESTA is the U.S. Senate bill, FOSTA is the House bill, and the joint proposal is known as the "FOSTA-SESTA package".]

Previously: U.S. Congress Passes SESTA/FOSTA Law
FBI Seizes backpage.com and Affiliates

Original Submission