Streetwalking in Silicon Valley: Has Prostitution Found its Place on Craigslist?
If people do it, buy it, give it, or want it, you can find it on Craigslist, a site that’s been building in popularity and momentum since it was created by Craig Newmark and Jim Buckmaster about ten years ago. By combining the simple concepts of classified advertising and user-controlled discussion boards, Craigslist has created a giant niche in and of itself. The site is not really a content publisher, and it’s not simply just a content deliverer. It is a community that generates and moderates its own content, and acts as one of the largest marketplaces for products and services on the web.
When a site like Craigslist comes along and defies traditional definitions, legislations which have in the past translated to the online space become murky and problematic. This first became apparent when Craigslist postings started going beyond harmless attempts to sell toasters or start yoga classes—and entered the precarious territory of sexual solicitation.
Craigslist is unique in that it plays host to both real estate brokers looking for a sale and horny twenty-somethings looking for a date in the same place. Believe it or not, it didn’t take long for these two disparate sectors to find some commonalities on the community site, and unnerving postings like the following (posted on 3/19/06 in the “manhattan rooms & shares” section) began appearing with frequency:
“FEMALE ROOMATE WANTED ONLY WHO IS PRETTY & IN GOOD SHAPE.TO RENT, WITH ADDED SEX INCLUDED. AND SHARE A 1MEDIUM SIZE BEDROOM.2WINDOWS.UTILITIES/CABLE INCLUDED. SHARE KITCHEN.AND BATHROOM. RENT CAN MAYBE BE NEGOTIABLE TO A LOWER PRICE WITH ADDED SEX INCLUDED.”
In several major cities, including New York, Miami, Chicago, San Francisco, and undoubtedly many other places around the country, men are offering free or discounted rent on their shared apartment space to young, attractive women who are willing to negotiate sexual favors as payment. For the past year, stories such as the one that appeared last Sunday, March 19 in the Miami Herald have chronicled the practice as a growing phenomenon. The disturbing trend in this coverage is that very little preventative measures are being taken; the authorities are always seen standing on the sideline of the Internet with a dumb stupor, wondering what laws they should consult, and whether or not they should intervene at all.
Sometimes, posters will mask their sexual solicitations with more vague terms such as “services,” or by requesting other suggestive activity, such as regularly cleaning the apartment in their underwear. Frequently, potential roommates will be asked to send a provocative picture for review. Nearly always, what is being asked for is explicit enough to scare away young women not wishing to prostitute themselves, yet implicit enough to avoid legal prosecution.
Until now.
In February of this year, the Chicago Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law filed a lawsuit against Craigslist’s operators, claiming that the site is in violation of the Fair Housing Act. In reality, the group was attacking the vile sexual solicitation they found becoming a rampant problem in their city, but legally they took the case against Craigslist to another level. The Fair Housing Act in question outlaws “discriminatory preference based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status or handicap.” This means that the Chicago Lawyers Committee found Craigslist postings making specifications such as “Godly Christian Roommate Wanted” (a surprisingly frequent occurrence) to be on par with “Female Only CHEAP RENT FOR SERVICES.” Their lawsuit is still pending.
This legal strategy conflates the real problem of sexual solicitation with the imagined threat of housing discrimination. People should be allowed to say if they prefer to live with someone who has a similar background as them (provided that they don’t directly attack those people they prefer not to live with). They should not, however, be allowed to sell their ritzy Manhattan penthouse for daily sexual gratification, at least not on Craigslist where their vulgar offers contaminate a shared community space.
All of a sudden, judges, prosecutors, and Craigslist’s own attornies have an urgent need to elucidate the true nature of the site’s user-generated content: What exactly is a Craigslist posting? Is it an ad? Is it a discussion? Should its content be regulated and censored? Who should be held responsible?
Reader Comments.
Nice piece, Doug. Based on the articles you’ve written and I’ve read, it’s my studied opinion that you’re the very best, notwithstanding any bias on my part, that is.
News flash – Just as there are things on the internet that may “horrify” and “disgust” you, there are things in real life that do the same. If you’ve been turning a blind eye to these real-world activities, I’m sorry that craigslist has ruined your innocence. But prosecuting craigslist, or hiding it further, won’t change reality.
Criagslist has been so successful precisely because it allows people to post whatever they want. If you ban it there, it will only pop up elsewhere.
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