A 14-year-old girl, M.A. was forced into prostitution in 2009.  M.A, filed a lawsuit in September 2010, shortly after her pimp Latasha Jewell McFarland pleaded guilty to interstate commerce to promote prostitution.  McFarland, 27, was sentenced in December to 5 years in federal prison.  McFarland admitted she persuaded the 14-year-old runaway to become a prostitute in 2009, and that she posted nude pictures of M.A. online, bought condoms, arranged the meetings and drove M.A. to hotels.
  M.A. claimed that Backpage.com and Village Voice knew that nude photos were being posted on the website in ads for prostitution, including prostitution of minors.

 This week, 8/15/11, a federal court judge in Missouri dismissed the claims against Backpage.com and Village Voice Media Holdings saying they are immune from the harm that they caused. Article: Click Here

He made his determination based on prior internet trafficking determinations and the Communications Decency Act of 1996 (CDA) which says that online companies like backpage.com​, craigslist.com​, facebook.com​, myspace.com, and numerous others are immune from criminal and civil charges because service providers are not liable for harmful content or criminal activity by third parties.

We need congress to amend the CDA Act to hold these companies along with the child pornography sites liable for their actions.

These companies are not only profiting from forced prostitution, child pornography, and human trafficking, they are facilitating these crimes! Without the ability to hide behind a computer law enforcement would be able to conduct proper investigations.

If online companies can be immune and profit from these crimes then protecting these people, protecting our communities is impossible.

Please urge your representatives to push for amending the CDA Act to reflect the year 2011 and the technologies we have today. In 1996 this was not an issue, the times have changed, the technologies have changed, IT IS TIME FOR THE LAWS TO CHANGE!