U.S. Senator John Cornyn has cosponsored a bill aimed at holding the controversial classified website Backpage.com accountable for sex trafficking.
The bill is called the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act and is the legislative result of a two-year, bipartisan Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations inquiry into accusations that Backpage is a major conduit for sex trafficking – particularly among children. In January, the subcommittee outright accused the website of facilitating child sex trafficking nationwide.
The bill clarifies Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act to specifically hold liable any website that helps facilitate sex trafficking. Specifically, the bill allows sex trafficking victims to seek justice against complicit websites; eliminates federal liability protections for websites that help facilitate violations of federal sex trafficking laws; and enables state law enforcement officials to take action against individuals or businesses that violate federal sex trafficking laws.
In a statement, Cornyn said “Child sex traffickers and their enablers should not be able to hide on the internet any longer.”
