New law to protect children
In a huge win for victims of online sex trafficking, FOSTA-SESTA was signed into law by the President this week. Backpage, an online marketplace notorious for trafficking children, has now been seized by the U.S. Department of Justice.
The new law will allow victims of human trafficking to sue websites that knowingly assisted in the crime and will give prosecutors a new tool to criminally go after these websites.
On the backpage website, a notice has been posted by the US Department of Justice:
backpage.com and affiliated websites have been seized
as part of an enforcement action by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division, with analytical assistance from the Joint Regional Intelligence Center.
Other agencies particpating in and supporting the enforcement and action include the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, the office of the California Attorney General, and the office of the Texas Attorrney General.