Craigslist Censors Adult Services

Anyone trawling Craigslist for a little fun Saturday morning woke up to a nasty surprise. With no explanation, the classifieds site replaced its link to its adult services section with a banner reading “censored.” Many had criticized Craigslist before, saying the adult listings promote prostitution and sex trafficking. In fact, seventeen state attorneys general joined together to call on the site to end its adult content last week, and a site spokesman said the company agreed with a part of the politicians’ statement. Craigslist retains the legal right to run the section (which pockets the company about $36 million a year), though it's unclear if today's redaction was part of a permanent or temporary shift. Said one expert, “What’s happened here is the states’ attorneys general, having failed to win in court and in litigation, have decided to revisit this in the court of public opinion, and in the court of public opinion, they have been much more successful.”