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Is it ethical to use Craigslist? At all?

Craigslist.com is a great way to find good deals on stuff you need- locally, but it is well known for fostering illicit activity- it is a great avenue for prostitution & for someone to find a sex slave (many young children) to buy for an hour, night, week, or even a year. “In Seattle last year, officers using a covert ad arrested 71 people, including a bank officer and a surgeon. A recent Cook County, Ill., operation rounded up 60 women.” This is from notforsalecampaign.org: “Many of the victims of human trafficking… have had their pictures posted on Craigslist… we’ve learned how the pictures on Craigslist hide the pain behind the smile. Maybe Craigslist should ask itself if the marginal benefits of this form of free advertising for the sex trade are worth the far larger human costs.” So should we use this website, which engenders all sorts of vice, or should we boycott it? Please back up your reasoning. media.www.dailypennsylvanian.com/media/storage/paper882/news/2007/12/11/Opinion/Nick-Mcavoy.Slavery.In.The.City.Of.Liberty-3141485.shtml http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=dige04m&date=20071104 thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/242738.html I can hear that many of you are quite angry. I did not ask this question to shove my opinion down your throats. Granted, it was a bit of a loaded question, I confess. But the purpose of asking this question was to arrive at the correct answer. Your answers thus far, as venomous as many of them are, have made me more comfortable with using craigslist. Thanks for your input.

Public Comments

1. so craigslist invented this type of stuff? Here I thought the sex trade was the worlds oldest profession! Bottom line, this type of behavior will flourish with or without craigslist. Its just a tool. People uses houses and cars for illicit sex and other crimes...should we boycott and ban them as well? People have this attitude in this country that "things" need to be boycotted, banded, legislated against. How about we just lock up the criminals who commit the acts and enforce the laws we already have? Hate to say it, but the things you describe existed LONG before CL and will be around LONG after CL.
2. I didn't see any ethic violations in buying my first vehicle off of Craigslist. The erotic services portion is so small though. It doesn't give a good representation of the many benefits this site has.
3. The whole internet is used for illicit and illegal activity, so boycotting craigslist will do no good. We just need to keep sick people in jail or find better treatment options and encourage those who think they have a problem to get into treatment.
4. Last month the police in the San Francisco Bay Area reported on the results of an investigation into ads for underage sex posted on Craigslist. There were 19 ads, which resulted in 47 arrests by 11 different police agencies. ALL 19 ads were posted BY the police themselves - but the different police agencies don't let each other know, so in several cases you had undercover cops from one force responding to an ad for child sex posted by undercover officers from another force. There was not a single 'real' ad for underage sex in the whole time period. And as for ads for adult hookers? Why shouldn't they advertise. None of the governments business what sort of deal adults want to make with each other. Richard
5. well its a great site i have sold and bought a lot of things using that site and best of all its free i just think they should take off the erotic service part out. but at leat think this way police arrest more people usi9ng that site than they arrest people in the street.
6. I use craigslist to sell old items, buy junk, and find apartments when I move. I can honestly say that by just eliminating craigslist it is not going to solve problems with prostitution. In fact, this is the first time I have ever actually even heard that it was a problem. Really you would think if people are going to solicit sex on there, there are plenty of other websites which they can find to do the same exact thing. There are more benefits than draw backs. So in answer to your question Yes it is perfectly ethical for them to keep it running they just need to find stricter ways of controlling the illegal activites which are arranged on it!
7. Nothing wrong with Craigs List. A couple of years ago there was a big crackdown on child pornography groups and they learned that some of the groups contacted each other and exchanged material via Yahoo Groups. So would you suggest that we stay away from Yahoo? If it's out there, the creeps will find it via any means possible. Try watching the MSNBC series "To Catch A Predator."
8. Craiglist wasnt invented for these things. The people abused the system using it for these things. Craiglist is owned by some dude just trying to make it easier for the people in the community to get together and help each other. He didnt say, oh, I think I am going to make this site to advocate for prostitution and slavery. The community areas are usually family and age safe. Rant and Raves are people safe, but not child friendly. The jobs forum has a lot of scams, but so does the internet in general. Be careful what you apply for and what personal information you give out. Services and gigs are usually safe and family friendly. Most of the adult services offered here or in the job section are actually nude modeling rather than prostituion. It is the personals section you need to becareful of. Most of it is actually more people looking for nsa one night stand sex rather than prostitution though. There are much better and safer places to find a prostitute. My finale point, you ask if we should boycott craigslist bc these things go on. How about the internet as a whole in which you are sitting there typing away on. The INTERNET is what has increased a lot of illegal activity, not craigslist. Are you going to boycott the internet? What about your local grocery store? DO they sell racy mags, or alcohol, cigs, and all sorts of vices. Boycotting them? What about Walmart? They purposfully build in areas outside city limits to avoid taxes, hire most employees at part time status bc they would rather pay over time (which rarely happens) than provide benefits to all their employees. Do you boycott them? I am not trying to make light of your point that these things are wrong. What I am trying to say though is that boycotting craigslist in and of itself is just as stupid as cutting your nose off to spite your face. If you want to go on a real boycott campaign against something, then do more than not visit criagslist.
9. First of all,... get your FACTS straight, FIRST and learn to become better INFORMED. The police used Craig's list to monitor and set up a sting operation. Secondly, ... prostitution in all it's forms, has existed from the beginning of TIME. It has never totally been eradicated and intelligent, informed, rational thinking minds, know, that it never will be. Thirdly, your irrational and illogical argument to boycott Craig's list makes about as much sense as......... LETS STOP PEOPLE FROM DRUNK DRIVING .......BY ELIMINATING AUTOMOBILES YOU CAN'T ELIMINATE BAD NEWS ........... BY KILLING THE "MESSENGER" ......ever heard of the expression...."LOOSE" CANNON??? ....This happens when people get worked up over issues and let their emotions over-rule logic, rationality, and common sense. Get "ALL" your FACTS straight "FIRST" .......then try to "THINK more LOGICALLY" next time !!!