WASHINGTON
— Craigslist, breaking nearly two weeks
of silence, said Wednesday that the
shutdown of the "adult services" section
at the online classifieds website in the
United States was permanent.
Craigslist
removed adult services ads on September
3 following months of pressure from
state law enforcement officials and some
advocacy groups who charged that they
facilitated prostitution.
But the
quirky San Francisco-based website had
declined until Wednesday to provide an
explanation for the abrupt removal of
adult services ads or say if it was
permanent.
In an
appearance before a congressional
committee looking into the sexual
trafficking of minors, William Powell, a
Craigslist director, said the site had
"no plans to reinstate the category."
"Those who
formerly posted ads in the adult
services category will now have to
advertise elsewhere," Powell,
Craigslist's director of customer
service and law enforcement relations,
told the House Subcommittee on Crime,
Terrorism and Homeland Security.
Powell said
the shutdown of the adult services
section applied only to the United
States at the moment and that erotic
services categories remained on
Craigslist sites in other countries,
including Canada.
"It's my
understanding that there are a number of
issues country by country as well as
legal issues for that," Powell said,
stressing that "97 percent of our
viewers and use are in the United States
and Canada."
Elizabeth
McDougall, a counsel to Craigslist on
online safety and security, said the
site was working with the Canadian
authorities but there had been no
request from Canada to remove adult
services ads there.
"They are a
sovereign nation," she told the
committee. "We don't believe that it's
appropriate for the US policy to dictate
what Canada's policy should be with
respect to the Craigslist website and
adult services."
Craigslist
shut down the link to its adult services
section on September 3, replacing it
with the single world "censored."
The
"censored" tag was removed a few days
later and the adult services section of
Craigslist.org -- which offers users
free and paid advertising for everything
from houses to babysitters to furniture
for sale -- disappeared.
Powell and
McDougall stressed the efforts
Craigslist has made to monitor adult
services ads, including pre-screening of
all submissions and working with state
attorney generals, law enforcement and
advocacy groups.
"Craigslist
has been one of the few bright spots and
success stories in the critical fight
against trafficking and child
exploitation," Powell said.
"It is our
sincere hope that law enforcement and
advocacy groups will find helpful
partners" at other sites which offer
adult services ads, he said.
Ernie
Allen, president of the National Center
for Missing and Exploited Children, said
removing adult services ads on
Craigslist was a "positive and
constructive step" but "the problem is
much wider than Craigslist."
Nicholas
Sensley, chief of police of Truckee,
California, agreed, saying Craigslist is
"only one of many" sites offering adult
services ads and "to their credit, not
nearly the worst."