1996 law named ‘greatest enabler’ of online sexploitation

WASHINGTON (BP)—An underage girl identified as Jane Doe was raped more than 1,000 times, according to the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, because of ads her traffickers posted on Backpage, where you could also buy various commercial goods.

A federal jury in Phoenix convicted three former owners of Backpage in 2023 of promoting prostitution enterprises that netted them more than $500,000, according to the newsroom at irs.gov. However, Jane Doe’s lawsuit was tossed out of court because of a federal law known as Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996.

Section 230, the courts have said, provides immunity to social media platforms regarding the harm experienced by third parties, which the National Center on Sexual Exploitation said is a gross misinterpretation of the law and a far cry from its original intent.

The center names Jane Doe and 11 other similarly situated survivors of sexual exploitation in what traditionally has been its Dirty Dozen List of the most egregious mainline contributors to sexual exploitation.

Section 230 twist

But this year, a twist. Section 230 is the lone contributor to sexual exploitation on the list, which is compiled with the cases of 12 survivors the law has silenced and prevented from receiving justice.

“All of these survivors have sought justice without success because Section 230 is standing in the way,” Haley McNamara, senior vice president of strategic initiatives and programs at the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, said in releasing the list April 3.

“Some of these survivors were contacted by predators over tech platforms; some were groomed and trafficked online; some had their child sexual abuse posted online.”

The center is seeking a repeal of the law, passed before the internet was widely available and before social media platforms existed.

“Laws should protect those who have experienced horrific crimes, but instead, Section 230 gives online platforms broad immunity for crimes committed on their sites. This must end,” McNamara said.

“Section 230 is the greatest enabler of online sexual exploitation.”

The law was designed to protect minors and enable platforms to remove harmful material without penalties, attorneys said as the national center launched the list.

Protecting children was the intent

Mary Graw Leary, a former federal prosecutor now on faculty as a law professor at the Catholic University of America, said the very title of the Communications Decency Act shows Congress’ original intent.

“This emerged out of a landscape of trying to protect children. Congress saw the threat (with the internet) and took actions in order to protect children. And the title of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act is the Blocking and Screening of Offensive Material,” she said. “It was designed to promote limited protections for good Samaritan platforms.

“A platform should have the protection from civil liability to remove things from its platform. That’s what it sought, and the text of the statute is quite clear. Congress explicitly says it wants to enforce criminal prosecution, and it wants to enforce a vigorous protection of children. That was the purpose.”

But the tech industry, both through advocacy inside and outside courtrooms, has established precedent that has retooled Section 230 as an immunity shield for the industry, Leary and other attorneys said on the center’s behalf.

“Platforms are blatantly engaging in criminal conduct, and they’re being given a pass for it,” asserted Lisa Haba, a partner in The Haba Law Firm that specializes in cases combatting human trafficking and sexual abuse.

“And so if we were to move forward in this day and age, we need to live in the modern world, where our laws have caught up with the modern-day society and the internet.”

Jane Doe, who sought justice after being trafficked on Backpage, had been trafficked under “Escort Services” on Backpage, which the federal government shut down in 2018. The ads had been tailored to the location of the site’s user, allowing users to find women and girls in their areas.

“Advertisements of the underage Jane were posted on Backpage, and inquiries from sex buyers led to her being raped over 1,000 times,” The National Center on Sexual Exploitation wrote.

“Jane Doe sued Backpage for allowing this sex trafficking to occur, for facilitating sex trafficking by making it easier for users to sell people online, and for financially benefiting from the illegal behavior.”

Other survivors

Other survivors listed by the center include:

• An 11-year-old girl who was “threatened, exploited and abused despite pleas for it to stop,” after being placed in a chatroom with a predator.

• A 13-year-old boy whose explicit personal images were circulated on Twitter, only to be told by Twitter that, “We’ve reviewed the content, and didn’t find a violation of our policies, so no action will be taken at this time.”

• A child who was pressured by adult men into sharing explicit images of herself after joining Kik, which the center said was aided by Kik’s lack of protective policies and warnings.

• A 15-year-old orphaned boy groomed by his science teacher via Snapchat, NCOSE said, with the abuse escalating into the teacher sexually assaulting the boy who overdosed on drugs.

The full list and other National Center on Sexual Exploitation resources are available here.

Founded in 1962, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation promotes itself as the leading national nonprofit organization exposing the links between all forms of sexual exploitation such as child sexual abuse, prostitution, sex trafficking and the public health harms of pornography.