Justice Minister presses .......... to remove erotic-services ads

[cat 262460]

Globe and Mail article

 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/justice-minister-presses-..........-to-remove-erotic-services-ads/article1784339/?service=email&utm_source=Shared+Article+Sent+to+User&utm_medium=E-mail%3A+Newsletters+%2F+E-Blasts+%2F+etc.&utm_content=1784339&utm_campaign=Shared+Web+Article+Links

[fortunateone 156618]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/justice-minister-presses-..........-to-remove-erotic-services-ads/article1784339/

 

Justice Minister Rob Nicolson says he has asked the online classified giant .......... to remove any ads for erotic services.

?With respect to newspapers, there are editors, I am sure, who take precautions to make sure they?re not getting into the business of child exploitation or human trafficking and so on? in their classified ads, Mr. Nicholson said after the Conservative caucus meeting on Wednesday. ?It seems to me with .......... there?s no regulation at all as to what goes on.?

 

The federal Conservative government is not the first to make such a demand.

In October, Alberta?s Justice Minister and Solicitor-General sent a letter to Jim Buckmaster, ..........?s CEO, to demand that the website stop ads for erotic services. In September, three Ontario cabinet ministers wrote a similar letter.

That same month, .......... replaced the heading of the adult-services section of its U.S. site with the word ?censored,? after demands from 17 U.S. state attorneys-general and advocacy groups who said the ads made it easier for people to engage in prostitution and human trafficking.

?It?s not just me. It?s other provincial governments. There are voices within the United States. And, again, I think they should consider this very carefully. They know that this is a priority with this government, the government with which I am a member. And they should listen to that,? Mr. Nicholson said. ?They have taken action in the United States and I think they should do the same with their Canadian websites.?

The Justice Minister also said he would introduce legislation on Thursday that would create two new offences under the Criminal Code to close loopholes in Canada?s laws against child pornography.

?There?s a growing problem in Canada with child sexual abuse, particularly on the Internet. There are, at any given time, 750,000 pedophiles who are online. I am told that the number of images of children being sexually exploited has quadrupled since 2003,? Mr. Nicholson said.

?I will be introducing legislation that will take aim at this particular problem. We will be increasing existing penalties. In addition, we will be covering off some loopholes that exits in the law.?

One of the new offences will be directly related to Internet child pornography, he said. The other will be closely related to it.

[Capital Hunter 18263]

I personaly have no problem (in fact encourage) with the removal of erotic section from CL. Yes I have used them and have been extra careful (those I have met on CL looked actually older than their advertised age) but if its removal is going to save even one exploited child or prevent a single case of human trafficking then that is good enough for me (likely its closure will save a lot more than one).

 

Since CL is not moderated and they refuse to invest resources in order to moderate it properly then it has become a safe hevan for pimps (those who intimidate people, threaten their girls, throw their weight around, bully their way in, eliminate their competitors and critics by devious means and they come in different names, forms and shapes) and criminal elements to exploit young woman and girls. In fact some of the ads I have seen on CL and the way they describe their girls make my skin crawl!!!. It is de-humanizing to say the least and disgusting at best. Not to mention spamming all the time by certain agencies and a few providers has made the place useless where you have to search through the spams to find a decent ad. I used to look at CL every day but nowadays I only look at it once or twice a week, on weekends only.

 

I do find it useful and would support erotic section only when independent SPs are willingly advertising and in my view only those independents should be permitted to do so. Since CL refuses to moderate their site and ignore their responsibilities in this regard, so be it.

 

I only support legalization of prostitution between consenting adults (those indies over legal age who willingly engage in sexual activities in exchange for a gift for their time and companionship). I am very much dead against pimping, forced prostitution, human trafficking, underage prostitution, drug use/abuse and living off the avails of prostitution by pimps in any form, shape or name they wish to call themselves. And CL is doing nothing to prevent any of above. So be it.

[Andee 220524]

I use CL to advertise and even so I fully support the removal of the erotic section because it really is a free for all for scammers, pimps and other opportunists.

 

I remember 4 years ago when there were may 10 ads in Ottawa. Now there are literally hundreds a day and I would say at least two-thirds of them are questionable. No wonder would-be clients are so confused.

 

The best compromise would be to start charging for the ads like the did for the adult section in the States before that got shut down. But I believe at this point, even CL themselves would probably not want the headaches.

 

I truly believe this may be the best thing - to shut it down!

[Guest W***ledi*Time]

Whether or not CL itself is a positive, a negative, or (more realistically) a mixed influence, the fact that federal and provincial justice officials are confining themselves to attempting to bully, grand-stand, and score political points by writing letters of course only underlines the obvious fact that the erotic services section of CL is legal.

 

If it were illegal, they'd be prosecuting instead of merely writing threatening letters.

 

If politicians find that they can successfully curb free-speech in Canada by bullying CL, they sure won't stop there. Once they smell blood, the bullies will be looking for their next victims. Right now, it's them. Next, it could be us.

 

The Canadian Press reports, 11 Nov 2010:

 

http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20101111/ontario-..........-prostitution-ads-101111/20101111?hub=TorontoNewHome

TORONTO ? [CL] was able to quickly pull prostitution-related ads from its American websites at the request of several U.S. attorneys general and should do the same in Canada, says Ontario Attorney General Chris Bentley.

 

The province first asked the San Francisco-based company to remove the ads under its erotic services section to help fight human trafficking and child exploitation in Ontario in a Sept. 14 letter, just two weeks after [CL] removed the ads in the United States.

 

Since then, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the federal government have also written the online classified ads service to ask that the prostitution ads be removed in Canada.

 

The company wrote back asking for a meeting with Ontario officials, which the province agreed to set up, but the Liberal government says there's no need for [CL] to wait to remove the ads.

 

"You have recently expressed an interest in meeting with us, but have not yet taken any steps to implement any such protections in Canada," Bentley wrote to [CL] CEO Jim Buckmaster.

 

"The urgency to protect Ontario's most vulnerable citizens cannot hinge on a meeting, and we expect you to begin removing this content without delay."

 

The Canadian Press obtained a copy of the Oct. 20 letter to Buckmaster, which was also signed by Children's Minister Laurel Broten and Community Safety Minister Jim Bradley, expressing disappointment that "[CL] has ignored the interests of Ontarians."

 

"We specifically recognized the steps [CL] had taken with respect to sites servicing cities in the United States, and urged you to immediately extend the same protections to its sites serving Ontario communities," wrote the ministers.

 

"Your efforts in the United States clearly demonstrate that [CL] is in a position to take concrete steps to protect the public immediately."

 

Despite the pleas there are still hundreds of prostitution ads listed every day on [CL] for cities right across Canada, many with nude pictures, detailed explanations of the sexual services on offer and price lists.

 

Federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson wrote to [CL] last week to ask that it remove the prostitution ads because of concerns they encourage child exploitation and human trafficking.

 

Many weekly newspapers in Canada carry similarly explicit ads, but Nicholson said there's a difference.

 

"It seems to me with [CL] there's no regulation at all as to what goes on," he said.

 

"With respect to newspapers, there are editors who, I'm sure, take the precautions to make sure they're not getting into the business of child exploitation or human trafficking."

 

In her letter to [CL] last month, Alberta Justice Minister Alison Redford said the prostitution ads "appear to be thinly-veiled cover for human trafficking," and help support a "despicable" crime.

 

[CL] did not respond Thursday to requests from The Canadian Press to give its side of the story or offer reasons for the delay in removing the prostitution ads in Canada.

 

[Guest s******ecan****]

Yet more of the "human trafficking", "child exploitation" canard. I wonder when activists of just about any cause from enviromental reform to calls for an elected senate will start claiming their proposals will lead to a reduction in "human trafficking, and child exploitation"?

 

Gee if only the PQ had thought of that in 1995 they might have won their referendum. "Quebec remaining in Canada will lead to more human trafficking and child exploitation"!

[fortunateone 156618]

Whether or not CL itself is a positive, a negative, or (more realistically) a mixed influence, the fact that federal and provincial justice officials are confining themselves to attempting to bully, grand-stand, and score political points by writing letters of course only underlines the obvious fact that the erotic services section of CL is legal.

 

If it were illegal, they'd be prosecuting instead of merely writing threatening letters.

 

If politicians find that they can successfully curb free-speech in Canada by bullying CL, they sure won't stop there. Once they smell blood, the bullies will be looking for their next victims. Right now, it's them. Next, it could be us.

 

 

 

That is exactly the point. We have to be vigilant what we allow to be disappeared without protest, because frankly they will go after first any site that offers free advertising, since free ads do not require a payment such as a CC, meaning technically they assume that having a CC to pay means they are 18 and over? Then, they will go to any online advertising venue that is paid, because these sites do not require proof of age or citizenship, meaning anyone can use them and they will be rife with trafficked victims and underage workers.

 

So, my POV is don't be too quick to accept the govt to "fix" CL for us, they do not have the right and they do not have the support of the legit advertisers and users of CL erotic services. No one is petitioning for eliminating electronic or car sales because the odd person sells stolen goods online, right? Well, why not protect the legit advertisers and potential buyers from these scammers by demanding the removal of those sections too??

 

And I love this comment:

 

"With respect to newspapers, there are editors who, I'm sure, take the precautions to make sure they're not getting into the business of child exploitation or human trafficking."

 

Why so sure? That is a gross assumption, imo, and lacks any sort of verifiable evidence. Not to mention, it also accuses CL of "getting into the business" of child exploitatin, etc. Which is offensive, misleading, and slanderous, imo.