Censorship
I've never understood the appeal of Craigslist. I wouldn't buy a coffee table from a stranger let alone try to hook up with some sexpot I've never met via the personals or adult services sections. I think our company actually hired someone via the site. Strange. Anyway... normal people use Craigslist all the time. By "normal", I mean families selling household items, men and women trying to find love and escorts hoping to attract new clients. There's a dark side to it, of course - serial killers cruising for their next victim or those trafficking in children. The problem is... Craigslist is just one of a billion places where you could encounter monsters - online, offline or otherwise. No one forces anyone to visit these sites or respond to the ads.
I bring this up because Craigslist has been under fire for years. Under mounting legal pressure, they finally decided to block access to the adult section in the United States, replacing the link with "censored", instead. I think it's a bad move. Just as Facebook recently banned an innocent photo of singer Kylie Minogue holding a giant teddy bear that some fan gave to her because her mic looked like a penis, you can't police people's minds. Sex-related ads will pop up on a thousand other sites. The answer isn't to censor free speech.
Buddha
Reader Comments (2)
I don't like censorship either but I believe that police would tell you that there have been a lot of crimes resulting from Craig's List postings. This is not Craig's List's fault, in my opinion. So often in life one will find bias, crime, corruption and plenty of violent acts committed every day.
People will still be victimized, with or without Craig's List's adult section. It's sad to say, but it's true. Many crimes, instances of fraud, abuse and rape are reported every day, every hour. And no, I'm not affiliated with the police nor am I Republican. I simply care about people.
I hate seeing people victimized. I just wish they'd exercise more caution.