Law enforcement officials in Minnesota claim that nearly all of the victims they discover are sold online via backpage.com. Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson is one of the attorneys general to sign a letter to change wording of a 1996 law supporting internet commerce.
Neither she nor Minnesota law enforcement are getting any help from one legislator serving our northwestern neighbor. Mike Nowatski reports in the Grand Forks Herald story, Fargo lawmaker at forefront of opposition to beefed-up child sex ad law:
The role state Rep. Blair Thoreson, a Fargo Republican, serves with a national conservative group has him leading an effort to block a change in federal law to allow state prosecutors to go after websites that host ads for child sex trafficking.Thoreson said Friday he’s concerned the proposal backed by numerous state attorneys general, including North Dakota’s, could have a “chilling effect” on Internet commerce.
The Fargo lawmaker is chairman of the Communications and Technology Task Force of the American Legislative Exchange Council, a nonprofit alliance of conservative state legislators, businesses and foundations.
The task force recently approved a draft resolution asking Congress not to grant the request of attorneys general from across the country who want to be able to prosecute websites for hosting child sex ads under the Communications Decency Act of 1996.
Thoreson has a unique defense of the resolution: he's in it for the bloggers:
Thoreson, who was quoted in a national story about the issue this week, said while much of the focus has been on online classified ad sites such as Backpage.com, he’s also spoken to bloggers concerned that if the law changes, they could be held responsible for something illegal someone else posts to their site.
“My concern is that if we were to change that, it could have quite a chilling effect on new companies starting up online which are doing sales or commerce or whatever, or just the expression of free speech,” he said.
Bluestem assures Thoreson that no one has ever posted anything "illegal" on the site, but the moment criminals start posting offers of juveniles for sale in our comment section, he'll be the first to know after we contact the sheriff's department.
Before retiring to seek the Republican endorsement for congress in MNCD1, Senator Mike Parry served as a member of ALEC's Communications and Technology Task Force; in the House, (MN R-33B), was a member. Doepke was defeated by David Ozmek (R-Mound) in a Republican primary bid for the open state senate seat for SD33. Ozmek won the seat last November.
Photo: In this Oct. 2012 photo provided by Shared Hope International is one of the organizations billboards near Kalispell, Mt., that started going up across the country to raise awareness about the problem of child sex trafficking. A number of states attorneys general are pressing Congress for more authority to go after websites that host ads for child sex traffickers. (AP Photo/Shared Hope International) Photo: Associated Press.
If you enjoyed reading this post, consider giving a donation via paypal:
Comments