Escort sites may start shutting down as law passed the Senate on 3/21/2018. City Vibe immediately shut down
3/21/2018 -The Senate passed the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA) in a 97-2 vote. Only Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) and Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) voted against the bill, which is also known as the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA). It already passed the House of Representatives, and is expected to be signed by President Donald Trump who has expressed support for the bill..
Once signed by the President websites that post prostitution ads will be committing a Federal Crime and also become open to civil lawsuits by "victims"
The bill makes no distinction between consenting adults and "sex trafficking", other than up to 10 years in prison for prostitution and 25 years for sex trafficking or if a website promotes 5 or more prostitutes.
The bill says that website operators who "promote or facilitate the prostitution of another person" will no longer have the legal protections of Section 230. Violators could face fines or prison sentences of up to 25 years. The bill was spurred largely by Backpage.com, even though the site already shut down its adult advertisement section because of government pressure.
Under FOSTA, any attempts by a website or app to filter out bad content could lead to more legal liability. The only way for companies to stay safe will be to completely give up on content moderation and trying to stop illegal ads from getting through.
Under FOSTA sex workers, could lose their ability to find and screen clients electronically, forcing them back onto the streets or into other situations where they’ll be more vulnerable to violence and exploitation. They could also lose the ability to warn each other about dangerous customers on sex-work message boards.
As Alana Massey noted recently at Allure, “these bills target websites that are widely and inaccurately believed to be hubs of trafficking activity when it is precisely those websites that enable people in the sex trades to do their work safely and independently, at the same time as they make it easier for authorities to find and investigate possible trafficking cases.”
In a lengthy Senate floor speech on Monday, bill sponsor Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) cited an increase in the number of “sex trafficking cases” reported to a national hotline run by Polaris Project—an entity that counts any call, text, or email as a “case” of sex trafficking (even though the vast majority are simply requests for information or unsubstantiated “tips”) and that has spent the past decade lobbying for state laws requiring all sorts of businesses to post the number.
"The bill really moves the ball forward on an area with strong Republican and Democratic consensus at a time of horrible partisan rancor," Mark P. Lagon, the former US ambassador-at-large to combat and monitor trafficking in persons, told CNN.
As website owners get charged, it may get challenged on Freedom of Speech constitutional grounds, but that will be a long fight with web site owners potentially in prison for years while cases get challenged.
The tech site gizmodo says, "The hapless members of the US Congress are good at piecemealing together legislation that makes it look like they’ve done something but really just confuses the issue."
Dave notes according to congress.gov, the Senate seems to have incorporated the House bill H.R. 1865 which had minor differences from the original Senate bill, so no conference is needed - it goes direct to the President to sign.
Looking at the wording of H.R. 1865 instead of just news reports, Sec 3 (a) provides that whoever using a means of interstate or foreign commerce owns, manages or operates an interactive computer service with intent to promote or facilitate the prostitution of another person
shall be fined under this title, imprisoned for not more than 10 years, or both.
Sec 3(b) provides for an aggravated violation if promotes prostitution of 5 or more persons or contributes to sex trafficking faces up to 25 years in prison plus civil recovery plus mandatory restitution.
Fortunately for us that enjoy Canada, Germany or most of the world where consenting adult prostitution is legal the law provides: "(e) Affirmative Defense.--It shall be an affirmative defense to a charge of violating subsection (a), or subsection (b)(1) where the defendant proves, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the promotion or facilitation of prostitution is legal in the jurisdiction where the promotion or facilitation was targeted.''
The law text is at
https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/1865/text?format=txt
3/21/2018 -The Senate passed the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA) in a 97-2 vote. Only Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) and Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) voted against the bill, which is also known as the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA). It already passed the House of Representatives, and is expected to be signed by President Donald Trump who has expressed support for the bill..
Once signed by the President websites that post prostitution ads will be committing a Federal Crime and also become open to civil lawsuits by "victims"
The bill makes no distinction between consenting adults and "sex trafficking", other than up to 10 years in prison for prostitution and 25 years for sex trafficking or if a website promotes 5 or more prostitutes.
The bill says that website operators who "promote or facilitate the prostitution of another person" will no longer have the legal protections of Section 230. Violators could face fines or prison sentences of up to 25 years. The bill was spurred largely by Backpage.com, even though the site already shut down its adult advertisement section because of government pressure.
Under FOSTA, any attempts by a website or app to filter out bad content could lead to more legal liability. The only way for companies to stay safe will be to completely give up on content moderation and trying to stop illegal ads from getting through.
Under FOSTA sex workers, could lose their ability to find and screen clients electronically, forcing them back onto the streets or into other situations where they’ll be more vulnerable to violence and exploitation. They could also lose the ability to warn each other about dangerous customers on sex-work message boards.
As Alana Massey noted recently at Allure, “these bills target websites that are widely and inaccurately believed to be hubs of trafficking activity when it is precisely those websites that enable people in the sex trades to do their work safely and independently, at the same time as they make it easier for authorities to find and investigate possible trafficking cases.”
In a lengthy Senate floor speech on Monday, bill sponsor Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) cited an increase in the number of “sex trafficking cases” reported to a national hotline run by Polaris Project—an entity that counts any call, text, or email as a “case” of sex trafficking (even though the vast majority are simply requests for information or unsubstantiated “tips”) and that has spent the past decade lobbying for state laws requiring all sorts of businesses to post the number.
"The bill really moves the ball forward on an area with strong Republican and Democratic consensus at a time of horrible partisan rancor," Mark P. Lagon, the former US ambassador-at-large to combat and monitor trafficking in persons, told CNN.
As website owners get charged, it may get challenged on Freedom of Speech constitutional grounds, but that will be a long fight with web site owners potentially in prison for years while cases get challenged.
The tech site gizmodo says, "The hapless members of the US Congress are good at piecemealing together legislation that makes it look like they’ve done something but really just confuses the issue."
Dave notes according to congress.gov, the Senate seems to have incorporated the House bill H.R. 1865 which had minor differences from the original Senate bill, so no conference is needed - it goes direct to the President to sign.
Looking at the wording of H.R. 1865 instead of just news reports, Sec 3 (a) provides that whoever using a means of interstate or foreign commerce owns, manages or operates an interactive computer service with intent to promote or facilitate the prostitution of another person
shall be fined under this title, imprisoned for not more than 10 years, or both.
Sec 3(b) provides for an aggravated violation if promotes prostitution of 5 or more persons or contributes to sex trafficking faces up to 25 years in prison plus civil recovery plus mandatory restitution.
Fortunately for us that enjoy Canada, Germany or most of the world where consenting adult prostitution is legal the law provides: "(e) Affirmative Defense.--It shall be an affirmative defense to a charge of violating subsection (a), or subsection (b)(1) where the defendant proves, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the promotion or facilitation of prostitution is legal in the jurisdiction where the promotion or facilitation was targeted.''
The law text is at
https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/1865/text?format=txt
. I am going to my hometown Mpls early April but for an event will have to remember to take a coat. Here in Phoenix expected to be 91 tomorrow with no snow 
