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DOJ Lets Cops Know SESTA/FOSTA Is For Shutting Down Websites, Not Busting Sex Traffickers
[SESTA/FOSTA] is in force and all it's doing is hurting efforts to track down sex traffickers and harming sex workers whose protections were already minimal. Sex traffickers, however, don't appear to be bothered by the new law. But that's because the law wasn't written to target sex traffickers, as a top DOJ official made clear at a law enforcement conference on child exploitation. Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan's comments make it clear SESTA/FOSTA won't be used to dismantle criminal organizations and rescue victims of sex traffickers. It's there to give the government easy wins over websites while sex traffickers continue unmolested.
In April, Backpage.com – the internet's leading forum to advertise child prostitution – was seized and shut down, thanks to the collective action by CEOS and our federal and state partners. The Backpage website was a criminal haven where sex traffickers marketed their young victims. The Backpage takedown – and the contemporaneous arrests of individuals allegedly responsible for administering the site – struck a monumental blow against child sex traffickers.
But other sites inevitably will seek to fill the void left by Backpage, and we must be vigilant in bringing those criminals to justice as well. With the recent passage of the SESTA-FOSTA legislation, state and local prosecutors are now positioned to more effectively prosecute criminals that host online sex trafficking markets that victimize our children.
"Criminals" that "host sex trafficking markets." That's the target. That's any website that might be used by actual sex traffickers to engage in actual sex trafficking. There's no dedicated web service for sex trafficking -- at least not out in the open where Section 230 immunity used to matter. This is all about taking down websites for hosting any content perceived as sex trafficking-related. It wasn't enough to hang Backpage and its execs. The government will be scanning sites for this content and then targeting the website for content posted by third parties it seems mostly uninterested in pursuing.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 17 2018, @07:26PM (5 children)
So the creepy bastasrd posting hopefully fake snuff fiction is really just ahead of the game and trying to get SN shut down under this law. It all makes sense now.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 17 2018, @07:47PM (2 children)
What, is there an online sex trafficking market embedded in the comments?
(Score: 4, Funny) by BsAtHome on Sunday June 17 2018, @07:54PM (1 child)
You must read in between all the letters. The real information is hidden in plain sight. The WHITE pixels contain the real message!
(Score: 3, Touché) by MostCynical on Sunday June 17 2018, @09:35PM
So the layout changes at /. where there was more whitespace, actually *increased* the amount of information on the site!
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Monday June 18 2018, @12:01AM
Got it in one! It was nice knowing everybody here while it lasted :-)
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday June 18 2018, @01:45AM
That crossed my mind. It's a bit silly, but it crossed my mind. So, how might that affect a site like Soylent? Apparently, all the creepy bastard need do is to link to some disgusting photos, videos, and/or offers of illegal services. According to TFA, gubbermint would shut Soylent down, instead of chasing down the creepy bastard. Then, gubbermint would use our "failure" to log IP addresses to further "justify" shutting Soylent down.
You've definitely got some food for thought there.