Craigslist pulls prostitution ads from Canadian sites

Craigslist has quietly pulled prostitution ads from its popular website after months of pressure from Ottawa and Ontario.

“I'm pleased that they appear to be doing what we asked them to do,” Ontario Attorney General Chris Bentley said in an interview Saturday. “The main concerns we had were that children or the vulnerable would be targeted for sexual exploitation or human trafficking.”

Many of the ads in the “erotic services” section of Craigslist were quite blatant, carrying explicit photographs and price lists.

Ottawa, which has the lion's share of legislative authority over the Internet, had also opposed the ads.

“Our government was concerned that such advertisements could facilitate serious criminal offences, such as living off the avails of child prostitution and trafficking in persons,” Federal Justice Minister Bob Nicholson said in a statement.

In the United States, Craigslist had yanked comparable ads in September after several attorneys general there complained the company wasn't doing enough to block illegal ads promoting prostitution.

Once that happened, Bentley sent two letters to the San Francisco-based company, asking that the ads be dropped here, as well. Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta issued similar demands, as did Ottawa.

“Ultimately, our request was a simple one: Just do in Ontario what you'd done in the United States,” said Bentley.

Craigslist did not immediately respond to calls seeking comment, but on Saturday, the Toronto edition of the website no longer included an “erotic services” section.

Opposition to the ads gathered steam in November when police in Chilliwack, B.C., arrested a 14-year-old girl and charged her with prostituting herself and acting as a pimp for other underage girls through ads on Craigslist.

Many weekly newspapers in Canadian cities also carry explicit ads, but the federal government has said the papers are more likely to exercise control over the content to ensure the ads don't involve minors.

“The overall issue, the overall struggle, is to protect children and the vulnerable from sexual exploitation or human trafficking,” said Bentley. “This is a step, it's not a solution.

“We're working on many fronts. We've got the police and the Crowns working together to see if there are additional strategies we can employ.”

Bentley said he's also looking at on-the-ground services to help children who might otherwise be drawn into illicit activities.

“You want to make sure that proper support exists, so they feel they have alternatives, they have other places to turn.”

http://www.thestar.com/news/article/9093…