Craigslist came under fire again Monday when a human rights group took out an ad that detailed the ordeals of two women it described as survivors of Craigslist sex trafficking, and asked the site to shut down its adult services section.
In a blog post response, Craigslist co-founder Jim Buckmaster expressed concern about whether or not the perpetrators had been arrested, but said that "criminal misuse of the site is quite rare."
The ad, which was funded by the FAIR Fund and formatted as a letter to Craigslist co-founder Craig Newmark, discussed the abduction and forced prostitution of two women who identified themselves as AK and MC. It was published in The Washington Post and The San Francisco Chronicle.
AK said she met a man in 2009 who pretended to be her boyfriend but soon revealed he was a pimp. "He put my picture on Craigslist, and I was sold for sex by the hour at truck stops and cheap motels, 10 hours with 10 different men every night," AK wrote.
MC said she was forced into prostitution six years ago at age 11 by a 28-year-old man.
"All day, me and other girls sat with our laptops, posting pictures and answering ads on Craigslist," MC wrote. "He made $1,500 a night selling my body, dragging me to Los Angeles, Houston, Little Rock – and one trip to Las Vegas in the trunk of a car."
The women said that Craigslist is the Web site of choice for traffickers because "it's so well known and there are rarely consequences to using it for these illegal acts." They asked that the site shut down its adult services section.
In his response, Buckmaster asked if the perpetrators were behind bars.
"If Craigslist was misused, we want to learn more so we can improve our preventative measures," he wrote. "If anyone committing such crimes has not yet been apprehended and prosecuted, we want to do everything in our power to assist the police in making that happen."
He asked them to provide any information about the men to Craigslist's legal department.
Still, incidents described by AK and MC are a rarity, he said.
"Craigslist is used by more than 50 million Americans to facilitate billions of interactions each month, and criminal misuse of the site is quite rare," Buckmaster wrote. "We are dedicated to eliminating it entirely however, and in this regard we have been working for years to ensure that Craigslist is very much part of the solution to crimes such as trafficking and exploitation of minors."
Craigslist made headlines last year after a man was arrested for allegedly murdering a girl he encountered on Craigslist, spawning the "Craigslist killer" moniker. Craigslist denied that the site was used for nefarious purposes, but amidst pressure from various state attorneys general, it agreed in May 2009 to ditch its "Erotic Services" section in favor of a monitored "Adult Services" section. All posts to that section are reviewed by Craigslist staff and cost $10 per ad.
Buckmaster suggested that MK and AC might have been victimized before Craigslist switched to the stricter "Adult Services" model. It appears that MC was trafficked in the 2004 time period; AC mentioned 2009, but did not specify a particular month.
"Craigslist is one of the few bright spots and success stories in the critical fight against trafficking and child exploitation," Buckmaster said. "We've been told as much by experts on the front lines, many of whom we have met with in person, and many of whom have shared helpful suggestions we have incorporated in our approach."
In May 2010, Connecticut's attorney general, Richard Blumenthal, issued a subpoena to Craigslist, asking the site to turn over evidence that it is fulfilling its promise to get rid of ads for prostitution and other illegal activity, as well as data on what it earns from adult ads.
Craigslist has had a rather icy relationship with Blumenthal, who is currently running for the Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Chris Dodd. When the subpoena was issued, Buckmaster accused Blumenthal of political maneuvering, and he appeared to get in another dig at Blumenthal in Monday's blog post.
"Even politicians looking to advance their careers by publicly criticizing us grudgingly admit (when pressed) that we have made giant strides, and that Craigslist is virtually alone among advertising venues in vigorously combating exploitation and trafficking," Buckmaster wrote.