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Comment by bmpafa | Hacker News Reader

Well, more accurately, they appear to have come for the pimps.

How is coming for the webpage that acts as a marketplace coming for the pimps?

I was using 'pimps' as short-hand for the people brokering sex worker transactions, be they platform admins or some guy named Icepick.

My sense is that, in most cases, sex workers do not act as their own agents, so I see backpage as a platform catering to pimps et al.

Though I guess there's an argument to be made that sites like backpage make it easier for sex workers to disintermediate pimps, which I imagine would be a good thing.

> My sense is that, in most cases, sex workers do not act as their own agents

Your sense is totally wrong. Sites like craigslist and backpage make it easier for sex workers to pre screen johns. Cold street approaches are nearly impossible to screen and very dangerous, hence pimps. This shutdown further entrenches the dominance of pimps over sex workers and makes sex work significantly more dangerous.

No. Sex workers regularly screen clients.

Right from their phone. There are even Geocities-like web services that they can get a webpage at that have built-in screening workflows. And screening-agent-as-a-service's exist that will middleman for the sex worker.

Shutting down online marketplaces removes the safest options that sex workers have.

And if you combine this nonsense with the pending SB 1204 in California, just the act of helping someone screen a client (or even handing a streetwalker a condom) will become pandering and therefore a felony punishable by 3+ years in prison. Do you feel safer yet?

http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml...

> My sense is that, in most cases, sex workers do not act as their own agents, so I see backpage as a platform catering to pimps et al.

Just fyi, you are mistaken. That is the whole reason they have to force/traffick people and trap them rather than just recruit. Anyone here legally and does that sort of sex work has mostly moved away from the pimps.

> Though I guess there's an argument to be made that sites like backpage make it easier for sex workers to disintermediate pimps, which I imagine would be a good thing.

Legal adult citizens who were prostitutes were doing exactly that.

Pretty much since "online personals" became a thing, sex workers quickly removed all the intermediaries beyond the ads.

Their plan is to free the sex workers from bondage then? No pun intended..

-3 votes? Seriously, what's wrong with asking this, asking for clarification?

The Reuters article, nor the screenshot of the website with the takedown message on it, says what their overall purpose or goal of the takedown is. We can assume it's related to related to sex trafficking and child exploitation, however it doesn't state if it's for more than that. It's a pretty big deal for a website to be seized.

I think that read as a bad joke, explaining the downvotes. That said, your question about what is going on is legitimate and you can find more background on them here:

https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Backpage%20Report...

Fair. Thank you, I'd be curious to see what the other side says, what comes out in court.

And yes, that would be a bad joke - added the no pun intended to clarify it wasn't a joke.

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