Sex Workers Fight for Safe Conditions After Being Taken Offline

Cities across the country are adjusting to an alarming new reality: an increase in arrests for prostitution and sex trafficking on city streets. Could Congress—and Internet regulation—be to blame? The spike in arrests came after March of 2018, when Congress passed the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017 (FOSTA). FOSTA was passed in response to a 20-month U.S. Senate investigation into Backpage, an online classifieds service that enabled prostitution and sex trafficking. Sex workers—those who receive money in exchange for sexual services, including prostitution—used Backpage to advertise. But so did sex traffickers, who coerce adults and children into sexual servitude. Congress believed that the company knew what was happening on its site and did nothing to stop it. Congress concluded that Backpage repeatedly evaded prosecution because it was protected by the Communications Decency Act (CDA), a law that shields websites…

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