Feeling immense pressure from lawmakers in several states, Craigslist has agreed to remove its erotic services section from the Web site.
The office of Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal announced Wednesday that the online classified advertising Web site has agreed stop allowing erotic ad postings.
“Craigslist is heeding our clear call for conscience and common sense, sending a strong signal that Internet sites must police themselves to protect others,” said Blumenthal. “As head of the multistate attorney general task force, I was informed by Craigslist late last night that it will eliminate the erotic services section within seven days, create a new section called adult services, and manually review every ad posted there to bar flagrant prostitution and pornography.”
Postings Were ‘Irresponsible’
The removal of the erotic postings section comes after representatives from both sides of the table met to discuss requests from various states’ attorneys general, including Illinois, Rhode Island and South Carolina, to do away with the ads after one woman was attacked and another murdered.
Attorneys have argued that the incidents could have been avoided if Craigslist had not allowed the women to advertise erotic services on the Web site.
“Craigslist is allowing advertisements for illegal activities like prostitution on its site,” Illinois Attorney General Chris Koster protested last week. “It is blatant. It is irresponsible. It is illegal.”
Before Wednesday, Craigslist had stood behind its efforts and business practices. In November 2008, the company signed an agreement with the more than 40 attorneys general to put into place various steps to deal with prostitution. One step to thwart the erotic ads was by charging a fee to post the ads; another way was to require posters to submit a working telephone number.
While Craigslist founders believed they were already extending a hand in an effort to work with authorities, various states said…