However, where they drew the line was when law enforcement started demanding similar help in tracking down non-trafficking consensual sex work.
It sounds like someone who took an enlightened and ethical stance who got railroaded.
I haven't followed the Backpage drama but this looks to me like a win for uptight, backwards people who want to pretend their hang ups are some form of "righteousness."
I'm very sad to see this article and the news that he apparently died by suicide.
Sad, trying to fight politicians and DA capitalizing on moral panic.
I would like to read more about the circumstances surrounding the memo that the DOJ was successful in preventing from entering as evidence.
> But I do hope that some of the people who literally built up their own profiles by demonizing Backpage and Section 230 at least take a moment to reflect on whether or not they got so caught up in the narrative they wanted that they missed what was actually happening.
https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-kama...
Just throwing out there that the "trafficking" topic in the media is largely a moral panic from the culture conservatives working with the police to call all sex work trafficking, as that juices their numbers for the scale of the problem, giving both group more supports/donors while doing nothing to help victims. This is a gross mischaracterization.
Here's an article by a former sex worker on this, and how decrim, Backpage, etc. are better for reducing the numbers of victims in sex work and the severity of what they deal with.
https://medium.com/@cathyreisenwitz/how-to-actually-fight-tr...
So sad. It is so hard to fight the power.
RIP
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"suicide"
A Red Shirt found out too late that authorities don’t care about stopping the actual problem because then they wouldn’t be employed. There is no value in helping a department with their work unless you have something very specific to gain. Just don’t talk to them.
Not familiar enough with the person's history to know if they did bad things, or if they were uncooperative, or simply ran a website and became a scapegoat. Anyone got insight into this?
“unlike virtually every other website that is used for prostitution and sex trafficking, Backpage is remarkably responsive to law enforcement requests and often takes proactive steps to assist in investigations.” - DOJ
"In short, contrary to the public narrative you may have heard, Backpage worked closely with federal law enforcement to actually stop sex trafficking (and not just take it down, but to track down the perpetrators). But they refused to do the same for consensual sex work and that is why the feds eventually came down on them like a ton of bricks, all while telling the media and politicians that it was for sex trafficking. But that was all bullshit."