Digital Media

Federal judge orders South Carolina to halt criminal investigation of Craigslist.

A judge has ordered Henry McMaster, attorney general of South Carolina, not to file any criminal charges against Craigslist until the related matter is settled in court.

A judge for the U.S. district court in South Carolina on Friday issued a temporary restraining order in the case. Craigslist sought the order after McMaster threatened the service as well as its managers with criminal prosecution.

McMaster has demanded that Craigslist do more to halt prostitution ads from appearing on its site. He said he would instruct his staff to launch a criminal investigation unless the ads were removed. He continued issuing threats even after Craigslist agreed to shut down its "erotic" section and replace it with a new "adult" area.

Craigslist has filed suit against McMaster, whose motivations were questioned in a story by The Associated Press. On Thursday, the AP reported that McMaster has never prosecuted a prostitution case in six years. Critics have said that if McMaster were serious about combating prostitution, he could start trying cases or at least go after newspapers and other classified publications that also offer the same kind of questionable content as Craigslist.

Craiglist representatives declined to comment and McMaster's office did not reply to an interview request.

One thing is for sure, if a story reported yesterday is accurate, Henry McMaster, the attorney general for South Carolina is no expert at fighting prostitution.

Earlier this month, McMaster threatened Craigslist with criminal prosecution if the online classifieds site, did not do more to remove prostitution ads on its site. But according to a report by The Associated Press, McMaster said Thursday he has "never handled a single such case in more than six years as the state's top prosecutor."

"I don't think this office has handled any prostitution prosecutions ever," McMaster was quoted by the AP. "This is something different. This is against the biggest want ads Web site in the world."

McMaster and a number of other state attorneys general demanded in the past several weeks for Craigslist to close down the publication's "erotic" section. They claim the area was rife with solicitations for sex that often involved minors and people who forced into prostitution against their will.

Craigslist agreed to replace the erotic section with a new adult section and also began reviewing every ad to ensure it met with the site's terms of service before it appeared online. While Craigslist was trying to implement these new measures, McMaster once again issued a threat of prosecution against Craigslist and its managers.

The AP spoke to Ann Bartow, a professor of Internet law at the University of South Carolina's School of Law. She said: "McMaster's decision to take on Craigslist and not local newspapers that advertise escort services suggests political motivations."

Craigslist has always said that the site was far more tame compared with many newspaper and competing online classified publications. McMaster, however argued that the volume of the prostitution ads made Craigslist a bigger threat.

"It is the vehicle of choice for prostitution in this country," McMaster told the AP. "They had been notified emphatically that those were prostitution ads."

Henry McMaster, the South Carolina attorney general who threatened Craigslist with criminal prosecution last week, must assume Web users and the people of his state don't take the time to read.

Henry McMaster, South Carolina's attorney general is no longer threatening Craigslist with prosecution.

(Credit: SCattorneygeneral.org)

Just a few hours after Craigslist announced that it had filed a lawsuit against McMaster for making threats and alleging managers of the site were in some way responsible for prostitution ads that have appeared on the site, McMaster claimed victory.

He suggested that it was he and his threats that prompted Craigslist to implement changes to the site, such as setting up a system to review ads before they appear in the new "adult" section and the deleting of the "erotic" section.

"Overnight (Craigslist) removed the erotic services section from their Web site as we asked them to do," McMaster wrote on his site Wednesday. "And they are now taking responsibility for the content of their future advertisements. If they keep their word, this is a victory for law enforcement and for the people of South Carolina."

As anyone who has followed this story knows, Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster announced a week ago that he planned to implement a monitoring system for adult ads and do away with the erotic section. This was well before Friday when McMaster posted a note on his site saying he was going ahead with criminal prosecution.

Craigslist had come under scrutiny after law enforcement agencies complained that the site's erotic category was a digital meat market where prostitutes and pimps could safely conduct business. On Wednesday, the state of New York announced it had made seven arrests in connection with an alleged prostitution ring that operated on Craigslist's erotic section.

Craigslist has worked with state attorneys general from across the country to try to find a way to curb sex solicitation on the site. In November, 40 state attorneys general, including McMaster, were part of an agreement with Craigslist that saw the service adopt a series of changes, such as requiring anyone posting to the erotic section to provide phone and credit card numbers. Craigslist met again with a small number of attorneys general earlier this month after a woman was murdered by a man who allegedly found her ad on Craigslist's erotic section.

The important thing here is that McMaster refrained from making more threats and his comments apparently signal he will not be filing criminal charges.

"We trust (Craigslist executives) will now adhere to the higher standards they have promised," McMaster wrote. "This office and the law enforcement agencies of South Carolina will continue to monitor the site to make certain that our laws are respected."

McMaster never had legal grounds in which to prosecute Craigslist managers, according to Matt Zimmerman of the the Electronic Frontier Foundation. He told CNET News the Communication Decency Act protects Web sites like Craigslist from being held criminally liable for the actions of users.

After reading McMaster's comments, some may conclude that one of two events transpired: McMaster didn't get the memo that Craigslist was well on its way to changing the site to satisfy the demands made by a group of attorneys general earlier this month.

Or, the AG simply used the controversy surrounding the online sex trade, a problem that apparently has no easy answers, to drum up a few easy press clippings.