Thanks to the hard work of attorney generals in 17 states, Craigslist finally censored its "adult services" section over the weekend. But even before the celebrating confetti could be swept up off the ground, Craiglist pervs have found a new way to bang for a buck.
They have taken their bondage chains and flocked to the Personals section, which, up until the censorship, was used for "casual encounters," "missed connections," and the stereotypical WMSWF acronym-type phrasing.
As much as I believe web prostitution should be censored, the realistic bottom line is, it's the web. You can't. They will always find a way. Even if they were to start censoring the personals section, the roommate-wanted section will undoubtedly begin having "two roommates seeking third for fun (wink, wink)" or the for sale section offering "barely used mattresses for $200/hr." Not condoning adult services, but at least law enforcement had a starting off point with finding illegal prostitution. Now they'll have to decipher codes through various sections.
According to Newser, Connecticut AG Richard Blumenthal, who led the charges against the adult services, is now calling it "an important step," but not a "magic bullet."
"We will continue to pursue this issue with Craigslist if the problem persists, and will continue to insist on effective screening and filtering," he says. Craigslist maintains that effective screening is near-impossible.
And the "duh" card of the day goes to …
What do you think of the Craigslist censorship? Think it's pointless to try to censor it or is it good that they're at least trying?
Image via Craigslist.com
