CHICAGO — Online classifieds site Craigslist said Wednesday it will drop its controversial “erotic services” category in response to law enforcers who said the ads were a front for prostitution.
The old category will be replaced with one listing “adult services,” and a fee will be charged, the company said. Employees will monitor every posting before it appears online — a precaution the site has been criticized for refusing to take in the past.
Pressure to remove the category increased this spring after a Boston medical student was charged with killing a masseuse whom authorities say he met through Craigslist.
The move also comes two months after Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart filed a lawsuit alleging Craigslist not only allows the solicitation of prostitution but had created what he called the “largest source of prostitution in America.”
Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster said the agreement preserves a place “for legal businesses to advertise” while incorporating feedback from attorneys general, free-speech advocates, law enforcement, Internet law experts and millions of Americans who use the site.
“This change should significantly reduce the blatant misuse of Craigslist’s online classified ad server to promote prostitution,” said Rob McKenna, Washington state attorney general, who applauded the decision.
He added that the change will be successful only if Craigslist follows through on its promise to monitor the adult ads. McKenna was one of 42 attorneys general who sought the change.
Craigslist attorney Eric Brandfonbrener, appearing in federal court for a hearing on Dart’s lawsuit, told U.S. District Judge John Grady that the site is undergoing changes he expects to satisfy the suit’s concerns.
“My expectation is that it will be moot,” Brandfonbrener told the judge.
Dart attorney Daniel Gallagher said he remained skeptical, saying Craigslist made similar promises before to the attorneys general.
Gallagher noted that Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal had brokered an agreement with the site in November to crack down on prostitution ads after being contacted about several complaints about photographs depicting nudity.
“I’m not going to take their word for it, we want to see action,” Gallagher said.
Blumenthal sounded equally skeptical.
“Closing the erotic services section — a blatant Internet brothel — should lead to other blocking and screening measures, and set a model for other sites, if Craigslist keeps its word,” he said in a statement.
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