You may have read about Backpage. Since Craigslist shuttered its own Adult classified section in , Backpage has had a corner on that particular market, commanding 80 percent of online commercial sex advertising revenues in the U.
No, no, no! This is the repeated rape of children under the age of This is modern-day human slavery. Mazzio, a former Olympic rower and corporate lawyer is lively and animated, even by phone, even talking about a subject as grim as this one. Mazzio, who cites estimates that hundreds of thousands of children a year fall victim to sex trafficking in this country, first heard of their plight in her local paper, The Boston Globe. This is the United States of America! What the F?
Backpage denies these allegations. With a few exceptions including a judge in Washington State who ruled to hear a case later this year brought by three Jane Does against Backpage, the judiciary seems unprepared to reinterpret the boundaries of CDA In January , the Supreme Court refused to hear a case against Backpage out of Boston despite an amicus brief filed by marriage-equality star lawyer David Boies ; in December, a California judge dismissed charges of pimping and money laundering brought by thenβAttorney General Kamala Harris against Backpage shareholders Michael Lacey and James Larkin, and CEO Carl Ferrer though new charges have since been filed and are pending.
This is a complicated moment for free speech and technology in America. Mazzio and I discuss that, and more, below. At the point at which you decided to make the documentary, your first concern must have been: Will any of these Jane Does speak to me on camera?
Actually I was thinking at the beginning that I would focus on the lawyers, including the Backpage lawyers. Then I asked the lawyers, can I meet your clients? When I met the Jane Doe children and their parents, particularly their mothers, that was a game changer. The children were remarkable. For them to not only participate in the film, but also in a lawsuit where they would be at risk of unmasking their identity?
