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Notorious website backpage.com has been seized according to NY Daily News.
Sex ads platform Backpage.com was seized by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Friday hours after its founder's Phoenix home was raided.
Visitors to the site landed on a notice from the federal government announcing its seizure.
"Backpage.com and affiliated websites have been seized as part of an enforcement action by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division, with analytical assistance from the Joint Regional Intelligence Center," the announcement read.
Founder's home also raided by the FBI Friday morning.
U.S. Government Seizes backpage.com
The FBI, Justice Department, and other agencies have seized backpage.com, and one of the co-founders had their home raided:
On Friday, federal law enforcement authorities seized Backpage domain names, including Backpage.com and Backpage.ca. In addition, the Arizona Republic reported that on Friday morning, law enforcement raided the Sedona-area home of Michael Lacey, a co-founder of the site.
For years, Backpage has acted with impunity as a place that offered thinly veiled online prostitution ads. In December 2016, Backpage CEO Carl Ferrer and his co-defendants beat back a state prosecution in California.
Sex workers aren't happy, and could be endangered by the move as well as the recent passage of the Stop Enabling Sex Trafficking Act (SESTA). SESTA is not yet in effect.
Also at CNN, WSJ, The Hill, and The Verge.
Previously: Supreme Court Chief Justice Blocks Congressional Subpoena Over First Amendment Rights
Backpage's Dallas Offices Raided, CEO Charged With "Pimping"
"Pimping" Charges Against Backpage Executives Dismissed
After Release of U.S. Senate Report, Backpage Shuts Down U.S. Adult Section
Related: Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act - 20 Years of Protecting Intermediaries
Craigslist Removes Personals Sections in the U.S.
(Score: 4, Informative) by requerdanos on Saturday April 07 2018, @05:36PM (1 child)
Well, fortunately not a lot of effort is necessary [yandex.com] to find more evidence.
"An advertisement on a website called Backpage, allegedly soliciting prostitution, led police to a young girl who was reported missing in North Carolina, according to a police report released on Thursday’s human trafficking arrests.", Backpage advertisement helps police find missing girl in human trafficking case https://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/news/local/crime/article169775157.html [myrtlebeachonline.com]
"The documents show that Backpage hired a company in the Philippines to lure advertisers — and customers seeking sex — from sites run by its competitors.", Backpage has always claimed it doesn’t control sex-related ads. New documents show otherwise., https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/backpage-has-always-claimed-it-doesnt-control-sex-related-ads-new-documents-show-otherwise/2017/07/10/b3158ef6-553c-11e7-b38e-35fd8e0c288f_story.html?utm_term=.483a9ed46a5e [washingtonpost.com]
"A mother whose daughter was trafficked on Backpage at the age of 15 was among some of the women who have lost lawsuits against Backpage for trafficking and prostitution charges. Her daughter was trafficked on Backpage for nearly 3 months.", Backpage.com and Human Trafficking, http://www.frcblog.com/2017/07/backpagecom-and-human-trafficking-what-christian-americas-response/ [frcblog.com]
"Dorchy was identified as a suspect and was traced to a motel room in Prince George’s County. Serving a search warrant on the room, police found Dorchy and three females, 17 to 24. Dorchy is suspected of forcing the women to perform sex acts for money after placing photos of them on the website Backpage", Md. man charged with human trafficking via Backpage; 4 victims freed, http://wjla.com/news/local/md-man-charged-with-human-trafficking-via-backpage-4-victims-freed [wjla.com]
(Score: 2) by requerdanos on Saturday April 07 2018, @05:41PM
But, it is apparently more trouble [yandex.com] than I initially thought.