In January, Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) argued that Congress needed to act on his Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act to address websites like Backpage.com, which his subcommittee had documented had been promoting sex trafficking with minors. Courts across the country have consistently ruled that a federal law—and this is why Congress has such a key role…
State and federal lawmakers have been grappling for some time over what to do about certain websites that promote prostitution and child sex trafficking. One challenge in doing so is Communications Decency Act Section 230 (CDA230) which immunizes websites for third-party content (subject to certain exceptions) and which has been used to dismiss criminal charges…
Last week Sacramento Superior Court judge dismissed most of the California Attorney General’s criminal complaint against Backpage CEO Carl Ferrer. Procedural Background In October 2016 Backpage CEO Carl Ferrer was arrested on felony charges of pimping a minor, pimping, and conspiracy to commit pimping. The court dismissed the complaint on the basis of immunity for…
Taina Bien-Aimé on Backpage and CDA 230 Backpage and the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act of 2017 Anti-trafficking Coalition Rebuttal to Tech Industry About Taina Bien-Aimé @tainabienaime / @CATWIntl Taina Bien-Aimé has over two decades of experience defending the rights of women and girls at the national and global level. She is currently the Executive Director of…
Lawyers for the Backpage executives charged with pimping a minor, pimping, and conspiracy to commit pimping demanded that charges be dismissed on the grounds that the prosecution violates the First Amendment and is preempted by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. First Amendment Davis Wright Tremaine’s letter to Attorney General Harris contended that: The State cannot…
Backpage CEO Carl Ferrer was arrested by Texas authorities on a California warrant upon arrival at Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport on felony charges of pimping a minor, pimping, and conspiracy to commit pimping. Authorities also raised Backpage’s Dallas headquarters. The complaint lists five instances of minors (four who were under 16) allegedly paying to advertise…
The Subcommittee Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations began its bipartisan investigation of human trafficking on the Internet in April 2015. The Subcommittee explains that With estimated annual revenues of more than $150 million, Backpage is a market leader in commercial sex advertising and has been linked to hundreds of reported cases of sex trafficking, including the…
Advertiser Settles Text Messaging Claim under TCPA for $47 Million Jiffy Lube’s parent corporation may pay $47 million under a class action settlement arising from sending text messaging wthout opt-in consent in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Unlike CAN-SPAM which does not impose any opt-in requirements, text messages require opt-in consent under the TCPA.…
Cyber Report 