SC AG threatens Craigslist with prosecution

By Meg Kinnard, The Associated Press
Tuesday, May 5, 2009

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- South Carolina's top prosecutor on Tuesday called on the chief executive of popular online site Craigslist to take down ads related to prostitution and pornography or face prosecution himself.

"Many of the classified and communication services on the Craigslist site provide the public with a valuable service," Attorney General Henry McMaster wrote in a letter to company CEO Jim Buckmaster. "However, it appears that the management of Craigslist has knowingly allowed the site to be used for illegal and unlawful activity after warnings from law enforcement officials and after an agreement with 40 state attorneys general."

McMaster was referencing an agreement he and attorneys general from dozens of other states entered into with Craigslist last year to improve the site's safeguards. In that document, Craigslist agreed to several safeguards, like allowing users to flag pornographic postings they believe violate the Web site's rules.

But McMaster said Tuesday he doesn't think Craigslist has done enough to keep those images, as well as ads for prostitution, off its Web site, giving the company until May 15 to take down sex-related postings from its South Carolina sites. If that deadline isn't met, McMaster said he may prosecute the San Francisco-based company.

McMaster, whose Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force has arrested more than 150 people suspected of soliciting children for sex over the Internet, cited recent national events as his impetus for going after the company.