Backpage

Backpage

Type	Web communications
Area served	869 Cities
Owner	Atlantische Bedrijven CV, Former Owner - Village Voice Media
Employees	120+
Website	backpage.com
Alexa rank	806[1]
Available in	English, Spanish, German, French, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, Norse, Russian, Chinese, Finnish, Italian, Dutch, Swedish, and Turkish
Launched	2004
Current status	Active

Backpage is a classified advertising website. It offers a wide variety of classified listings including automotive, jobs listings, real estate and services. Backpage is the second largest classified ad listing service on the Internet in the United States after Craigslist.^[2]

History

Near the turn of the 21st century, Internet-based classified advertising, particularly the website Craigslist, was having a significant impact on the classified advertising business in newspapers nationwide. Classified advertising in daily newspapers as well as weekly alternatives, suburban papers and community papers was moving to the free advertising model of Craigslist and other smaller websites. In 2004, in response to this phenomenon, New Times Media (later to be known as Village Voice Media), a publisher of 11 alternative newsweeklies, launched a free classified website called backpage.com.^[3] The foundation and traditions of free classified advertising and free circulation were part of the fundamentals of the alternative newsweeklies dating back to 1971. The Chicago Reader and the Phoenix New Times were pioneers in these operating philosophies.^[4][5]

Backpage soon became the second largest online classified site in the U.S.^[3] The site included all the various categories found in newspaper classified sections including those that were unique to and part of the First Amendment driven traditions of most alternative weeklies. These included personals (including adult oriented personal ads), adult services, musicians and "New Age" services.

Adult section

Backpage contains a section for adult postings. It prohibits illegal services including prostitution and users must agree to these terms before posting on the site. The postings in the adult section of the site often contain sexual innuendo including accompanying images. However, explicit offers of prostitution rarely appear there, and are monitored and removed by the company when found.

Backpage's adult posting offerings increased after sellers migrated to the site when Craigslist removed its adult services section in 2010.^[6]

Content submitted to Backpage is surveyed by an automated scan for terms related to prostitution. At least one member of a team of over 100 people also oversees each entry before it is posted.^[7] Each month the team finds around 400 ads offering potentially underage sex. These are sent to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children which in turn alerts law enforcement.^[8][9]

Controversy

There has been significant public controversy and discourse regarding the adult section of Backpage.com. Most of the criticism has centered around the charge that Backpage is used to market minors, i.e., underage sex trafficking. Media, law enforcement and politicians have weighed in on this matter.^[7][8][9] Advocates for Backpage point out that by carefully scrutinizing each posting in the Adult section before it is posted, removing questionable posts and reporting potential cases of the trafficking of minors to the authorities and NGO’s such the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), Backpage is aiding in the fight against this activity. In addition, they argue that by providing prompt and detailed information about postings to law enforcement when asked to do so (including phone numbers, credit card numbers and IP addresses), Backpage aids law enforcement in protecting minors from such activity. They also contend that the prompt and complete production of this information results in more convictions for illegal activities and that shutting down the adult section of Backpage will simply drive the traffickers to other places on the internet that will be less forthcoming about crucial information for law enforcement.^[9][10]

Liz McDougall, an attorney serving as general counsel for former owners Village Voice Media, said that Backpage is an "ally in the fight against human trafficking." She said that the adult section of Backpage is closely monitored, and that shutting it down "would simply drive the trafficking underground." McDougall said that websites like Backpage, able to monitor trafficking activity and report it to law enforcement, are key in the fight against human trafficking.^[11] McDougall said that shutting down the service on a cooperative United States–based website would only drive trafficking to underground and international websites that are more difficult to monitor, and are often outside the jurisdiction of U.S. law enforcement.^[11]

Numerous writers, NGO legal experts and law enforcement officials including the Electronic Frontier Foundation,^[12][13] the Internet Archive,^[14] and the Cato Institute,^[15] have pointed out that the freedoms and potentially the entire fabric of the internet would be threatened if this type of free speech is prohibited on Backpage. They cite both First Amendment rights of free speech guaranteed in the Constitution as well as Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.^[16] This law provides protection to Interactive service providers that are the conduits for others’ speech and not the speaker themselves.^[16][17]

Writers for Forbes, the Huffington Post, and Fast Company have suggested that Backpage is a useful tool for law enforcement and the public in exposing the perpetrators of human trafficking.^{[7][10][18][19]} Numerous NGOs and others contend that the potential harm done by a website that features a section for adult posting is far greater than any actions the site may take to aid law enforcement. In many cases, the critics of Backpage say that these efforts are less than is necessary or possible. Some say that no efforts to police the site and report bad actors outweigh the negative impact the site may have in this area. The general counsel for National Center for Missing and Exploited Children said, "Backpage’s reporting is not conducted in good faith."^[8] Washington Post writer Glenn Kessler, in a number of his Fact Checker columns, debunked many of the inflated sex trafficking statistics and claims cited by politicians, NGOs, lawmakers and the media.^{[20][21][22][23]}

In 2012, at the behest of a number of NGOs including Fair Girls and NCMEC, Fitzgibbon Media (a well-known progressive/liberal PR agency) created a multi-media campaign to garner support for the anti-Backpage position. They enlisted support from musicians, politicians, journalists, media companies and retailers. The campaign created a greater public dialogue, both pro and con, regarding Backpage.^[24] In 2015, Fitzgibbon Media was closed due to multiple allegations of sexual harassment and abuse by Fitzgibbon owner Tervor Fitzgibbon.^[25] Some companies including H&M, IKEA, and Barnes & Noble canceled ads for publications owned by Village Voice Media. Over 230,000 people including 600 religious leaders, 51 attorneys general, 19 U.S. senators, over 50 non-governmental associations, musician Alicia Keys, and members of R.E.M., The Roots, and Alabama Shakes petitioned the website to remove sexual content.^[8] New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof authored a number of columns criticizing Backpage,^[26][27][28] to which Backpage publicly responded.^[29]

In 2012, Village Voice Media separated their newspaper company, which then consisted of eleven weekly alternative newspapers and their affiliated web properties, from Backpage, leaving Backpage in control of shareholders Mike Lacey and Jim Larkin. Executives for the spinoff holding company, called Voice Media Group (VMG) and based in Denver, raised "some money from private investors" in order to purchase the newspapers.^[30] The CEO of VMG, said "Backpage has been a distraction—there's no question about it—to the core (editorial) properties."^[30] In December 2014, Village Voice Media]] sold Backpage to a Dutch holding company. Carl Ferrer, Backpage founder, remains as CEO of the company.^[31]

Legal decisions

Beginning in 2011 a number of legal challenges were initiated by foes of Backpage in attempts to eliminate the adult section of the website and or shut down the website entirely. These actions included legislative initiatives as well as lawsuits brought by individuals; all of these lawsuits, which were mostly brought by politicians and NGOs, were successfully challenged by Backpage, which argued that that the First Amendment protections of free speech were being compromised by any restriction on postings by individuals on the Backpage website. The Fifth and Fourteenth amendments to the Constitution as well as the Commerce Clause were also cited as reasons that these efforts were illegal under US law. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 (CDA) served as an additional cornerstone in this defense. Section 230 says that "No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider." This portion of the CDA was drafted to protect ISP’s and other interactive service providers on the Internet from liability for content originating from third parties.^[32] The enactment of this portion of the CDA overturned the decision in Stratton Oakmont, Inc. v. Prodigy Services Co. in which Prodigy was deemed by the court to be a publisher and therefore liable for content posted on its site.^[32] Many observers have credited the passage of section 230 of the CDA as the spark that ignited the explosive growth of the internet.^[16] The protection afforded to website owners under section 230 was upheld in numerous court cases subsequent to the passage of the legislation in 1996 including Doe v. MySpace Inc., 528 F.3d 413 (5th Cir. 2008) and Dart v. Craigslist, Inc., 665 F. Supp. 2d 961 (N.D. Ill. Oct. 20, 2009)

• Backpage.com v. McKenna, et al. — In March 2012, the state of Washington enacted a law (SB 6251)^[33] that sought to negate the immunity afforded by 47 USC 230 to online providers of third-party content.^[34] The law would have made providers of third-party online content criminally liable for any crimes related to a minor committed in Washington State.^[35] In June of that same year, Backpage.com and the Electronic Frontier Foundation on behalf of the Internet Archive filed a motion against Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna on the grounds that SB 6251 violated the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution, section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, and First and Fifth Amendments.^[33] Later that month, United States District Judge Ricardo Martinez, granted Backpage a temporary restraining order pending the outcome of the suit on the grounds that Backpage was likely to win its case against McKenna.^[33] The case ended the following month when Judge Martinez decided that Backpage and the Internet Archive were to be awarded permanent injunctive relief and $200,000 in attorney's fees from the Office of the Attorney General.^[17][36]
• Backpage.com, LLC v. Cooper — In 2012, the state of Tennessee passed similar legislation mirroring most of the language in the Washington law. The law specifically targeted Backpage. Backpage filed suit in the US District Court of Tennessee seeking a restraining order and temporary injunction to prevent enforcement of this law. In January 2013, United States District Judge John T. Nixon granted the motion.^[37] A permanent injunction and Final judgment was granted on March 27, 2013.^[38] Backpage was awarded $190.000 in attorney’s fees.^[39]
• Backpage.com, LLC v. Hoffman et al. — In 2013, the state of New Jersey enacted legislation targeting human trafficking. Included in that bill were provisions virtually identical to the ones in the Washington bill that targeted third party advertising on the internet that would have removed the immunity of those website operators. Backpage.com and the Internet Archive challenged the law in US District Court of New Jersey seeking a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against the state of New Jersey enforcing that portion of the law.^[40] Similar arguments to those proffered in Washington and Tennessee were made. The preliminary injunction and restraining order were granted on August 20, 2013.^[41] In May 2014. United States District Judge Claire C. Cecchi granted Backpage a permanent injunction in this matter.^[42] Backpage was awarded $195,246 in attorney’s fees.^[42]
• Backpage.com, LLC v. Dart — On June 29, 2015, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart sent a letter on his official stationary to Visa and MasterCard demanding that these firms "immediately cease and desist" allowing the use of their credit cards to purchase ads on Backpage and websites like it. Within two days, both companies withdrew the use of their services from Backpage.^[43] Backpage filed a lawsuit asking for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against Dart granting Backpage relief and return to the status quo prior to Dart sending the letter. Backpage alleged that Dart’s actions were unconstitutional violating the First and Fourteenth amendments to the US Constitution as well as Section 230 of the CDA. Backpage asked for Dart to retract his "cease and desist" letters. Monetary and punitive damages were also requested.^[44] In August US District Judge John Tharp rejected Backpage’s demand for relief,^[45] but on November 30, 2015 a three judge panel of the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed this decision and granted Backpage the requested relief.^[46] Writing for the court, Judge Richard Posner directed the lower court to issue the injunction enjoining Dart and his office from taking any actions..."to coerce or threaten credit card companies....with sanctions to ban credit card or other financial services from being provided to Backpage.com."^[46]

References

1. Alexa.com (20 January 2016). "Backpage site statistics". Alexa Internet. Retrieved January 20, 2016.
2. Dorish, Joe (February 2011). "Backpage Vs. Craigslist". Knoji. Retrieved May 27, 2012.
3. Kiefer, Michael (September 23, 2012), Phoenix New Times founders selling company, Phoenix: The Arizona Republic, retrieved December 1, 2015
4. Valeo, Tom (November 4, 1979), The Chicago Reader: A '70s Success Story (PDF), Chicago, IL: Daily Herald, retrieved 2010
5. Sisson, Richard; Zacher, Christian; Cayton, Andrew, eds. (2006). The American Midwest: An Interpretive Encyclopedia. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
6. Carr, David (October 30, 2011). "Fighting Over Online Sex Ads". The New York Times. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
7. Fisher, Daniel. "Backpage Takes Heat, But Prostitution Ads Are Everywhere". Forbes. Retrieved November 10, 2012.
8. Feyerick, Deborah; Steffen, Sheila (May 10, 2012). "A lurid journey through Backpage.com". CNN.com. cnn.com. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
9. Irvine, Martha (August 16, 2015). "Backpage ad site: Aider of traffickers, or way to stop them?". Seattle Times (Seattle, Washington). Retrieved February 17, 2016.
10. Ruvolo, Julie (June 26, 2012). "Sex, Lies and Suicide: What's Wrong with the War on Sex Trafficking". Forbes. Forbes. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
11. McDougall, Liz (May 6, 2012). "Backpage.com is an ally in the fight against human trafficking". The Seattle Times (Seattle, Washington). Retrieved May 30, 2012.
12. "Washington State Drops Defense of Unconstitutional Sex Trafficking Law". www.eff.org. Electronic Frontier Foundation. December 6, 2012. Retrieved February 21, 2016.
13. Reitman, Rainey (July 6, 2015). "Caving to Government Pressure, Visa and MasterCard Shut Down Payments to Backpage.com". www.eff.org. Retrieved January 20, 2016.
14. (United States District Court, Western District of Washington at Seattle December 10, 2012). Text
15. Backpage v Dart (United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit October 23, 2015). Text
16. Masnick, Mike (February 8, 2016). "20 Years Ago Today: The Most Important Law On The Internet Was Signed, Almost By Accident". www.techdirt.com. Techdirt. Retrieved February 21, 2016.
17. Goldman, Eric (July 30, 2016). "Overzealous Legislative Effort Against Online Child Prostitution Ads at Backpage Fails, Providing a Big Win for User-Generated Content". www.forbes.com. Forbes. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
18. Anderson, Lessley (November 19, 2014). "The Backpage.com Paradox". Fast Company. Fast Company. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
19. Hanson, Hilary (July 30, 2015). "Sex Workers Say Credit Card Bans On Online Ads Do More Harm Than Good". www.huffingtonpost.com. Huffington Post. Retrieved January 21, 2016. It's the more marginalized and poorer workers who are hit hardest by this.
20. Kessler, Glenn (June 11, 2015). "The Four-Pinocchio claim that ‘on average, girls first become victims of sex trafficking at 13 years old’". The Washington Post (Washington, DC). Retrieved January 21, 2016.
21. Kessler, Glenn (May 28, 2015). "The bogus claim that 300,000 U.S. children are ‘at risk’ of sexual exploitation". The Washington Post (Washington, DC). Retrieved January 21, 2016.
22. Kessler, Glenn (June 2, 2015). "The false claim that human trafficking is a ‘$9.5 billion business’ in the United States". The Washington Post (Washington, DC). Retrieved January 21, 2016.
23. Kessler, Glenn (April 24, 2015). "Why you should be wary of statistics on ‘modern slavery’ and ‘trafficking’". The Washington Post (Washington, DC). Retrieved January 21, 2016.
24. "Exposing Backpage.com". www.fitzgibbonmedia.com. Fitzgibbon Media. Archived from the original on January 16, 2016. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
25. Terkel, Amanda; Grim, Ryan; Stein, Sam (December 19, 2015). "The Disturbing Story Of Widespread Sexual Assault Allegations At A Major Progressive PR Firm". www.huffingtonpost.com. The Huffington Post. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
26. Kristof, Nicholas (November 1, 2014). "Teenagers Stand Up to Backpage". New York Times. New York Times. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
27. Kristof, Nicholas (March 17, 2012). "Where Pimps Peddle Their Goods". www.nytimes.com. New York Times. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
28. Kristof, Nicholas (March 31, 2012). "Financers and Sex Trafficking". www.nytimes.com. New York Times. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
29. "What Nick Kristof Didn't Tell You in his Sunday Column about Backpage.com". www.villagevoice.com. Village Voice. March 21, 2012. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
30. Francescani, Chris; Nadia Damouni (September 24, 2012). "Village Voice newspaper chain to split from controversial ad site". Reuters. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
31. Kezar, Korri (December 30, 2014), Backpage.com sold to Dutch company for undisclosed amount, Dallas: Dallas Business Journal, retrieved December 1, 2015
32. Ehrlich, Paul (January 1, 2002). "Communications Decency Act 230". Berkeley Technology Law Journal (Berkeley Technology Law Journal) 17 (1). Retrieved January 16, 2016.
33. DMLP Staff (August 2, 2012). "Backpage.com v. McKenna, et al.". Digital Media Law Project. Retrieved May 18, 2014.
34. Goldman, Eric (July 31, 2012). "Backpage Gets Important 47 USC 230 Win Against Washington Law Trying to Combat Online Prostitution Ads (Forbes Cross-Post & More)". Technology & Marketing Law Blog. Retrieved May 18, 2014.
35. 62nd Legislature 2012 Regular Session. "Certification of Enrollment: Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 6251" (PDF). Washington State Legislature. Retrieved May 5, 2014.
36. "Judgment in a Civil Case: Backpage.com, LLC and The Internet Archive v. Rob McKenna, Attorney General of the State of Washington, et al." (PDF). United States District Court for the Western District of Washington. December 10, 2012. Case Number C12-954RSM, Document 87. Retrieved May 18, 2014.
37. BACKPAGE.COM, LLC, Plaintiff, v. Robert E. COOPER, Jr., Attorney General, et al., Defendants (United States District Court, M.D. Tennessee, Nashville Division January 3, 2013). Text
38. Backpage.com, LLC v. Robert E. Cooper Jr., et al (United States District Court, M.D. Tennessee, Nashville Division March 27, 2013). Text
39. BACKPAGE.COM, LLC, Plaintiff v. ROBERT E. COOPER, JR., et al., Defendants, Case 3:12-cv-00654, Document 88 (The United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, Nashville Division May 22, 2014).
40. Nissenbaum, Gary (May 29, 2014). "Are Internet Publishers Responsible for Advertisements for Potential Sexual Liaisons with Minors?". www.gdnlaw.com. Nissenbaum Law Group, LLC. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
41. "BACKPAGE.COM, LLC. v. HOFFMAN". www.leagle.com. www.leagle.com. August 20, 2013. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
42. BACKPAGE.COM, LLC, Plaintiff, v. JOHN JAY HOFFMAN, Acting Attorney General of the State of New Jersey, et al.; Defendants, in their official capacities. & THE INTERNET ARCHIVE, Plaintiff-Intervenor, v. JOHN JAY HOFFMAN, Acting Attorney General of the State of New Jersey, et al.; Defendants, in their official capacities., CIVIL ACTION NO. 2:13-03952 (CCC-JBC) (The United States District Court for the District of New Jersey May 14, 2014).
43. Stempel, Jonathan (November 30, 2015). "Backpage.com wins injunction vs Chicago sheriff over adult ads". www.reuters.com. Reuters. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
44. Sneed, Tierney (July 21, 2015). "Backpage Sues Chicago Sheriff Over Pressure Campaign to Stop Sex Ads". talkingpointsmemo.com. Talking Points Memo. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
45. BACKPAGE.COM, LLC, Plaintiff, No. 15 C 06340 v. SHERIFF THOMAS J. DART, Defendant (The United States District Court Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division July 24, 2015). Text
46. BACKPAGE.COM, LLC, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. THOMAS J. DART, Sheriff of Cook County, Illinois Defendant-Appellee (United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit November 30, 2015). Text

External links

• www.backpage.com – Official website
  • Terms of use