They’ve also repeatedly asked Backpage.com’s CEO, Carl Ferrer, to testify before their committee, the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on Investigations. Ferrer has refused, in some cases saying he was out of the country. The company has also used the First Amendment to argue that it is not obligated to turn over the information.
The Senate last week voted 96-0 to hold Ferrer in contempt — the first time the Senate has taken such a vote in 20 years. Tuesday’s legal action is the first step in enforcing that contempt vote.
“We have given Backpage.com every opportunity to comply with a lawful subpoena, but they have continued to stonewall our bipartisan investigation,” the two senators said in a joint statement. “The Senate’s decision to bring civil action against Backpage will help us better understand how lawmakers, law enforcement, and even private business can more effectively combat the serious and heart-breaking crime of sex trafficking that thrives on an online black market.”
The two senators say they believe that Backpage.com is a market leader in the online exploitation of children, and are concerned by reports that the site received $8 out of every $10 spent on the online commercial sex advertising in 2013.
The site has become so dominant that the Center for Missing and Exploited Children first goes to the web page when a child is reported missing and suspected of being linked to sex trafficking. The site has estimated annual revenues of more than $150 million and has been linked to hundreds of reported cases of sex trafficking, including trafficking of children. A subcommittee investigation raised concerns that that Backpage.com has edited advertisements before posting them in order to conceal illegality.
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