Craigslist on Wednesday confirmed that it has shut down its "adult services" section and has no plans to resurrect it, but a company spokesman defended the site's activities as "one of the few bright spots" in the fight against child trafficking. Amidst pressure from state attorneys general and human rights organizations, Craigslist abruptly removed its "adult services" section earlier this month and replaced the link with a "censored" bar.
Days later, it removed the "censored" bar , and Craigslist sites in the U. Craigslist did not speak publicly about its decision to remove that category until Wednesday's hearing. Powell said he did not have "specific information" about why Craigslist decided to remove the section on Sept. Last week, several human rights organizations praised Craigslist for removing "adult services," but expressed concern that these sections still remained on international versions of Craigslist.
Powell confirmed Wednesday that Craigslist still has "erotic services" sections on international versions of its site. As a result, "erotic services" sections with less stringent oversight still exist overseas and in Canada, and users in the U.
Powell said that about 97 percent of adult-related activity on Craigslist takes place in the U. When asked why U. A person from Washington, D. As a result, most people would not go to the trouble, and would instead use a site other than Craigslist, he said. When asked why Craigslist didn't remove adult material from all its sites, Craigslist attorney Elizabeth McDougall essentially said that other countries have not asked Craigslist to do so.
We're working actively with them to address their concerns β¦ but [in the] U. Earlier in his testimony, Powell defended Craigslist's actions, and said the site had cooperated with various law enforcement agencies when problems arose.
