Ohio’s U.S. Sen. Rob Portman wants to change federal law to continue his fight against on Backpage.com. He says the online site has made $150 million from ads trafficking sex with women and children and has used the Communications Decency Act to escape responsibility.
“What it now says in essence is that if a company like Backpage publishes an ad someone else gives them, they’re not liable. I am working with a bipartisan group of members to say that, ‘Yes, we support the intent of the Communications Decency Act to protect online publishers ... but it was never intended to protect those who violate the law.”
Portman and Democrats Clair McCaskill and Tom Carper have also made a criminal referral of the site to the Justice Department following a two year investigation by their Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.
Click here for a link to a Washington Post investigation of Backpage.com
