Craigslist Faces Criminal Probe in S.C. Over Erotic Ads

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 18, 2009 - 12:45pm.

San Francisco - The Attorney General for the state of South Carolina has launched criminal investigation of Craigslist, after the site failed to remove alleged ads for prostitution and graphic pornography by Friday, according to reports. After meetings with a group of state attorneys general last week, Craigslist took the drastic step of eliminating its "Erotic Services" section entirely, and said it would manually monitor all ads placed in a new "Adult Services" section.

Unsatisfied, South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster gave the site his ultimatum.

Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster replied in a blog post, demanding an apology from McMaster, and also pointed out that many other websites in South Carolina are currently hosting a greater number of more explicit ads than Craigslist.

Buckmaster noted the existence of graphic adult services ads on sites owned by AT&T, Microsoft, Village Voice Media, major newspapers and even the yellow pages.

He also notes that the charges being threatened by McMaster "are unconstitutional and barred by federal law."

"We're willing to accept our share of criticism, but wrongfully accusing Craigslist of criminal misconduct is simply beyond the pale," Buckmaster wrote in the blog post. "We would very much appreciate an apology at your very earliest convenience."

http://www.scattorneygeneral.org

http://blog.craigslist.org/2009/05/target-practice/

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/05/18/stand-firm-craig-and-jim/

http://www.techmeme.com/090517/p8#a090517p8