Since she was 14, Tiffany says, she has been sold for sex, offered via hundreds of advertisements on Backpage.com, a website that grew rich on classified ads for services like escorts, body rubs and exotic dancers. Far from being a marketplace for consensual exchanges, Backpage, the authorities said, often used teasers like “Amber Alert” and “Lolita” to signal that children were for sale.
In the midst of a Senate investigation, a federal grand jury inquiry in Arizona, two federal lawsuits and criminal charges in California accusing Backpage’s operators of pimping children, the website abruptly bowed to pressure in January and replaced its sex ads with the word “Censored” in red.
Voor al diegene die willen weten waar het bedrijf zich nu bevind na talloze strafzaken / hearings in het congres / senaat / the USA, heeft Backpage zich gevestigd in Amsterdam. Kinderen worden verkocht / in escort services gedrongen terwijl adverteerders veel geld betalen om dit bedrijf Backpage, dat meer dan 400 miljoen omzet heeft per jaar, ook hier zijn gang kan gaan….allemaal binnen de marges van de wet. Zo langzamerhand begin ik te geloven dat er iets fout is met onze wetten!
Even so, Tiffany — a street name — did not stop using the site, she said. Instead, her ads moved to Backpage’s dating section. “New in town,” read a recent one, using words that have become code for selling sex. “Looking for someone to hang out with.” Other recent dating ads listed one female as “100% young” and suggested that “oh daddy can i be your candy.”