Bitter online postings during a child custody battle put a Pennsylvania man in conflict with a Bucks County judge over the man’s First Amendment rights. The judge ordered the man to take down a website PsychoExWife.com castigating his ex-wife.

Two days after the order, two new postings appeared one of which pledged to honor the judge’s order, but the other criticized his ex-wife and the judge and stated the judge had no power to regulate what he wrote online. The First Amendment issue will be contested in appeals court. -db

From the Philadelphia Inquirer, July 31, 2011, by Larry King.

Full story

The Electric Freedom Foundation issued a press release arguing that using the federal anti-stalking law to prosecute people for criticizing public figures on Twitter threatens First Amendment rights to online free speech.

The  federal law was  enacted to criminalize traveling across state lines for the purpose of stalking but now is being to stifle speech. The release reads: “In 2005, the law was modified to make the ‘intentional infliction of emotional distress’ by the use of ‘any interactive computer service’ a crime. In this case [the indictment of the man on Twitter], the government has presented the novel and dangerous theory that the use of a public communication service like Twitter to criticize a well-known individual can result in criminal liability based on the personal sensibilities of the person being criticized.” -db

From a press release from the Electric Freedom Foundation, July 29, 2011.

Full release

Analysts say that by shutting its adult services section, Craigslist may be playing to public opinion while considering its options. -db

The New York Times
September 5, 2010
By Claire Cain Miller

SAN FRANCISCO — Craigslist, by shutting off its “adult services” section and slapping a “censored” label in its place, may be engaging in a high-stakes stunt to influence public opinion, some analysts say.

Since blocking access to the ads as the Labor Day weekend began — and suspending a revenue stream that could bring in an estimated $44 million this year — Craigslist has refused to discuss its motivations. But using the word “censored” suggests that the increasingly combative company is trying to draw attention to its fight with state attorneys general over sex ads and to issues of free speech on the Internet.

The law has been on Craigslist’s side. The federal Communications Decency Act protects Web sites against liability for what their users post on the sites. And last year, the efforts of attorneys general were stymied when a federal judge blocked South Carolina’s attorney general from prosecuting Craigslist executives for listings that resulted in prostitution arrests.

“It certainly appears to be a statement about how they feel about being judged in the court of public opinion,” said Thomas R. Burke, a First Amendment lawyer at Davis Wright Tremaine who specializes in Internet law and does not work for Craigslist. “It’s certainly the law that they’re not liable for it, but it’s another matter if the attorneys general are saying change your ways.”

Attorneys general and advocacy groups have continued to pressure the company to remove the “adult services” section. A letter from 17 state attorneys general dated Aug. 24 demanded that Craigslist close the section, contending that it helped facilitate prostitution and the trafficking of women and children.

The “adult services” section of Craigslist was still blocked in the United States on Sunday evening. “Sorry, no statement,” Susan MacTavish Best, Craigslist’s spokeswoman, wrote on Sunday in response to an e-mail message.

Analysts said that if the block was a temporary statement of protest, it could backfire because of the avalanche of news coverage that the site had received for taking down the ads.

“I’m very convinced that this is permanent, even if it was not their intention to make it permanent,” said Peter M. Zollman, founding principal of the Advanced Interactive Media Group, a consulting firm that follows Craigslist closely. “I think it will be difficult, if not impossible, for them to go back and reopen that section without really running into a buzzsaw of negative publicity and reaction.”

Attorneys general in several states said they had so far been unable to get any information from Craigslist.

“If this announcement is a stunt or a ploy, it will only redouble our determination to pursue this issue with Craigslist, because they would be in a sense be thumbing their nose at the public interest,” Richard Blumenthal, the Connecticut attorney general who has headed the campaign against Craigslist, said in an interview by phone on Sunday.

Mr. Blumenthal said Craigslist’s outside lawyer had been in touch with his office, but that the lawyer had not clarified whether the shutdown of the section was permanent, or said when Craigslist might make a statement.

Even though courts have said that Craigslist is protected under federal law, Mr. Blumenthal said part of his mission was to rally public support to change federal law.

“Raising public awareness is extraordinarily important, because it increases support for changes in the law that will hold them accountable,” he said. “Their view of the law, which is blanket immunity for every site on the Internet, never has been upheld by the United States Supreme Court, and I think there is some serious doubt.”

Richard Cordray, the Ohio attorney general, said in an interview by phone on Sunday: “We’re taking it at face value. I think it’s a step forward, maybe grudging, in response to the efforts of the attorneys general.”

But Lisa Madigan, the attorney general of Illinois, was more skeptical about Craigslist’s intentions. “Certainly because of the way they did it,” she said, “it leaves an open question as to whether this is truly the end of adult services on Craigslist or if this is just a continuing battle.”

For a site that prides itself on being a neighborly town square, Craigslist has been increasingly pugnacious in response to its critics.

Jim Buckmaster, Craigslist’s chief executive, has written screeds on the company blog explaining and defending Craigslist’s efforts to combat sex crimes, including manually screening sex ads and meeting with advocacy groups.

“Craigslist is committed to being socially responsible, and when it comes to adult services ads, that includes aggressively combating violent crime and human rights violations, including human trafficking and the exploitation of minors,” he wrote last month.

But he also uses the blog to lash out at eBay, an investor and a competitor that also has a sex ads service, and Craigslist critics and reporters who question Craigslist’s actions on sex ads.

Last month, Amber Lyon of CNN reported about sex ads on Craigslist and questioned Craig Newmark, the founder of Craigslist and who is no longer a manager at the company, outside a conference where he spoke about a different topic.

In a blog post addressed to Ms. Lyon, Mr. Buckmaster responded: “There is a class of ‘journalists’ known for gratuitously trashing respected organizations and individuals, ignoring readily available facts in favor of rank sensationalism and self-promotion. They work for tabloid media.”

And he wrote a sarcastic post titled “Advocate Indeed” in response to a television appearance by Malika Saada Saar, executive director of the Rebecca Project for Human Rights, a nonprofit group that has urged Craigslist to shut the sex ads section.

Though sex ads on Craigslist are the most salacious example of the debate over free speech on the Internet, it is a battle being waged across the Web. Yelp, the review site for local businesses, has been repeatedly sued by small businesses for what its users write. The suits have been dismissed by courts citing the Communications Decency Act or withdrawn by defendants once they learned about Web sites’ immunity, said Vince Sollitto, a Yelp spokesman.

Some Internet law experts say the issue strikes at the heart of free speech. “For the government to intervene in Internet communication, it has to do that very carefully,” said Margaret M. Russell, a law professor at Santa Clara University in California. “The ultimate goal, public safety, is really important, but these are venues of free speech communication. They’re not conspirators in crimes.”

The erotic services categories are still accessible on Craigslist sites outside the United States, and the personals section of the site is still active. Craigslist has said that if it takes down the “adult services” section, sex ads will simply migrate to other parts of the site.

Doubts about whether the block on the sex ads section is permanent are fueled by the prospect of Craigslist losing a significant amount of money. The ads, which cost $10 to post and $5 to repost, are expected to bring in $44.4 million this year, about a third of Craigslist’s annual revenue, according to the Advanced Interactive Media Group.

Still, it is difficult to predict the motives of the company, which employs about 30 people and operates in a quirky, opaque and at times petulant manner.

“It would surprise me if they didn’t try to find a workable solution to reintroduce some of that income,” said M. Ryan Calo, a senior research fellow at the Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School. “Although, that said, Craigslist is not your typical company in the sense that it doesn’t seem to be exclusively motivated by profit.”

Louise Story contributed reporting from New York.

Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company      FAC Content Use Policy

Craigslist removed its website sexual ads last week, replacing the link with the word “censored.” -db

San Francisco Chronicle
September 5, 2010
By James Temple

SAN FRANCISCO – After years of mounting public pressure, Craigslist appears to have surrendered in a battle over sexual ads on its website that some viewed as a test case for the boundaries of online freedom.

The popular San Francisco classifieds site removed its controversial adult services section late Friday, defiantly replacing the link with the word “censored.” The move followed a torrent of legal threats and negative media reports that highlighted ads within the category that promoted prostitution and child trafficking, or led to violence against women.

The harshest critics have called Craigslist an “online pimp” and the “Wal-Mart of online sex trafficking.” Last year, an Illinois sheriff filed a lawsuit that accused the site’s owners of knowingly promoting and facilitating prostitution, while the South Carolina attorney general threatened criminal action against the company.

Late last month, attorneys general in 18 states demanded the removal of the site’s adult category, saying the company wasn’t doing enough to block ads for illicit services. Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, set up a House Judiciary Committee hearing for this month to explore how sites such as Craigslist are being used to “facilitate criminal activity.”

Speier initially applauded the removal of the adult category in a statement Saturday.

“Craigslist’s decision demonstrates a commitment to seeing these horrific abuses end, and I commend them for taking this step,” she said.

About a half hour later, however, her office issued a revised statement with a far different tone. “The site is down but not forgotten,” the statement said. “We can’t forget the victims, we can’t rest easy. Child sex trafficking continues and lawmakers need to fight future machinations of Internet-driven sites that peddle children.”

No explanation for move

Craigslist executives didn’t respond to inquiries Saturday, so it was unclear why they made the decision. For that matter, it’s possible the company is attempting to make a point with the “censored” label and plans to flip the section back on.

In an interview with The Chronicle late last month, the company’s chief executive, Jim Buckmaster, was steadfast in his stance that removing the adult section wouldn’t address the underlying issue.

“Is moving advertising around our best hope for addressing these harms?” he said. “Then the ads fall under personals, and how long before the demand is that we shut down personals? And where do those ads go next? What other sections of our site would they like us to shut down?”

Some outside observers also questioned the wisdom of removing the adult services category, and the legal basis for compelling Craigslist to do so.

Web publishers are generally protected by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the Communications Decency Act from the illegal actions of third parties who use their sites, though there are narrow exceptions in the latter law when it comes to criminal statutes.

“The legal analysis hasn’t changed,” said Matt Zimmerman, senior staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. “Craigslist isn’t legally culpable for these posts, but the public pressure has increased and Craigslist is a small company. My guess is that they may have just decided that the public pressure was too big.”

The broader concern is that making publishers responsible for the behavior of their users, whether through new laws or legal threats, will force them to adopt more conservative standards over what’s allowed on their sites. That could have a chilling effect on online expression, said Brian Carver, an attorney and assistant professor at the School of Information at UC Berkeley.

Fear of chilling effect

“If you impose liability on Craigslist, YouTube and Facebook for anything their users do, then they’re not going to take chances,” he said in an earlier interview. “It would likely result in the takedown of what might otherwise be perfectly legitimate free expression.”

Zimmerman added that if ads for illicit services move to other parts of Craigslist, like the personals section, they would potentially be more difficult to monitor and catch.

The Associated Press reported Saturday that Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, one of the attorneys general who pressed for the change, said he welcomed the removal of the adult section and was trying to verify Craigslist’s official policy.

Buckmaster said Craigslist already does much more than other websites and many print publications to monitor and filter out ads for illegal services.

In late 2008, with the attorneys general from more than 40 states demanding changes, Craigslist began requiring posters of adult services ads to provide a working phone number, a small per-ad fee and credit card verification to encourage compliance with the site’s guidelines.

Since spring 2009, the company has manually screened the images and texts of every ad submitted to its adult section before it is published. Any that indicate the involvement of an underage person are reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, Buckmaster said.

But suggestive posts have still managed to slip through to the site, like massage ads featuring photos of women in their underwear, providing an opening for continued criticism.

Critics demanded removal

Until the brouhaha over adult ads, Craigslist was mainly known as the small, quirky company that got the best of far bigger rivals by focusing on the needs of its users rather than profit.

Buckmaster called the widespread suggestion that the company is profiteering from prostitution ads “galling,” and used recent blog entries to hit back at certain critics and journalists in a tone that revealed palpable frustration.

The Rebecca Project for Human Rights of Washington, D.C., has been one of the most vocal critics of the adult services section, placing ads in major newspapers, including The Chronicle, calling for its removal.

Executive Director Malika Saada Saar said she was encouraged that the company listened, but then went on to echo Buckmaster’s trepidation about what will happen next.

“I would hope that there is that commitment … to implement a more comprehensive screening process,” she said. “My fear is that the ads will migrate to the ‘casual encounters’ section and pimps and traffickers can sell children without even having to pay for that ad.”

Copyright 2010 Hearst Communications Inc.    FAC Content Use Policy

San Francisco Chronicle
May 20, 2010
By Benny Evangelista

A federal judge ruled that a mother could get compensation from Universal Music for forcing YouTube to remove a 29-second video of her toddler son dancing to a Prince song. -db

The Recorder
March 1, 2010
By Zusha Elinson