Poking society in the eye with a sharp pointy stick
Satirical website The Onion has a great article that spoofs craigslist founder Craig Newmark. In it the fake Craig says he strated craigslist just so people would be attacked.
It’s dark humor but I found it hilarious.
Thanks to Sophie who posted it on the CCL Facebook page.
Craigslist faces new wave of political attacks:
In a story that I haven’t seen get a lot of press craigslist founder Craig Newmark has been called to testify before congress this Wednesday about the topic of “domestic minor sex trafficking.” If he reacted badly to Amber Lyon’s questions I can only imagine how he’s going to react to congress.
I do agree with the article however that craigslist is being used for political gains by most of the politicians involved and that they should be calling on Jim Buckmaster to testify and not Newmark since Buckmaster officially runs things at craigslist not to mention that big wigs at Village Voice Media for backpage as well. However if this means adult services on craigslist being shut down forever then for once the ends justify the means.
This congressional invitation for Craig makes me wonder if this was the real reason that the censored bar was removed and adult services with it. This way while testifying Craig can say “Adult Services? No, that’s in the past. We had it removed.”
In my opinion nothing ever seems altruistic when it comes to craigslist and human trafficking. There always seems to be an ulterior motive behind every move they make.
You know who has never been called before congress in a negative way? Greg Collier, CEO of Geebo.com, that’s who.
Help spread the word on craigslist and backpage crime by winning a free CraigsCrimeList T-Shirt.
Craigslist crime post #1327
Prostitution/Human Trafficking post #608
In his latest blog post Craigslist founder Craig Newmark finally gets around to making excuses as to why he had no real answer when CNN’s Amber Lyon confronted him about human trafficking on craigslist.
He blames it on the notion that he has borderline Asperger’s Syndrome which is also called borderline Autism in some circles. so basically he’s saying that he’s a borderline borderline Autistic. That’s a bunch of crap. While he may be socially inept he is far from stupid. Anyone who would have seen the ad that Ms. Lyon presented would have known that it was for prostitution which is still an illegal activity. Any normal person that was running a classifieds site who really didn’t want prostitution on their site would have said something realistic like “My God that’s horrible. I’ll look into it right away”. Instead Craig just asks if the ad has been reported. Um, last time I checked adult services ads could not be flagged. Just checked again, nope, you can’t flag them.
He then goes and claims that he is no longer in charge of craigslist which is true. He mentions that Jim Buckmaster has been in charge for the last 10 years. Which ironically is roughly about the same time that the original erotic services section first appeared on craigslist.
Then he goes on about how he is allegedly sensitive to the plight of those being trafficked but then mentions about how socially conscious he is by supporting veterans, net neutrality and transparency in government. Yet he still does not lift a finger to do anything real about human trafficking like shutting down the adult services section.
Following his blog post is some comments from the cult of craig that basically kiss his ass. I wondered why there were no opposing comments and then I noticed the following…
Comments are moderated, and will not appear until the author has approved them.
That’s kind of ironic for a number of reasons. The first is that he and Jim won’t moderate craigslist yet they both moderate the comments on their blogs. The second is that for someone who supports net neutrality and transparency in government he’s not very neutral nor transparent on his blog.
However you can comment on this cross post at the SF Gate.
Craigslist crime post #1315
Prostitution/Human Trafficking post #595
…not only has Craig Newmark blocked me from his twitter account he’s also blocked me on his Facebook as well.
If anyone wants to post the stories from CCL on Craig’s Facebook page you have my permission.
Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster has finally blogged his official response to the ads that were taken out in the San Francisco Chronicle and Washington Post by the Rebecca Project about human trafficking victims MC and AK. What he wrote just astounds me and not in a good way…
To AK and MC:
We saw your recent half-page newspaper advertisements in the Washington Post and San Francisco Chronicle. Hearing your accounts of being victimized by criminals who you mention also misused our site, we are anxious to know that the perpetrators are behind bars. Would you or the advocacy groups who placed the ads please let us know where the police reports were filed? We have been unable thus far to identify police reports matching the crimes you describe. If craigslist was misused, we want to learn more so we can improve our preventative measures. If anyone committing such crimes has not yet been apprehended and prosecuted, we want to do everything in our power to assist the police in making that happen. You can send the information to legal@craigslist.org. We work with law enforcement to bring to justice any criminals foolish enough to incriminate themselves by misusing our site, and want to make sure everything possible has been done in your cases.
What he’s basically saying is ‘We don’t believe you. Where’s the proof?” He’s also basically asking MC and AK to reveal their identities. Could he be any more of a child? He might as well just made a blog post that said “nuh-uh”. He also blathers on about craigslist’s commitment to stop human trafficking except shutting down adult services and casual encounters which would do the most good.
Craig Newmark, ever the flunky, made a blog post entitled craigslist needs help getting evidence re human trafficking. Proof? Really you need proof? Are you two really that brazen or just blind?
Craig closes his blog post by saying “Don’t be one of those who makes allegations without backing them up with substance — be a part of the solution.” Again basically calling MC and AK liars. Not the classiest tactic from two people who are supposed to be so socially conscious.
If you’re not outraged by the actions of Buckmaster and Newmark then you have no soul, just like them.
To help spread the word on craigslist human trafficking you can win a free CraigsCrimeList T-Shirt.
Craigslist crime post #1287
Prostitution/Human Trafficking post #578
While we’re on the subject of Craigslist founder Craig Newmark and social media I thought it would be a good idea to follow Craig on Twitter. I thought it would provide me with some good blog fodder. Well, it turns out I’m not welcome to follow Craig on Twitter. He’s blocked my @trenchreynolds account.
Check it out.
On the rare occasion that I do interviews with the media about craigslist I am always asked if craigslist knows about this blog. Now I can answer with a resounding yes.
I was able to follow Jim Buckmaster. I wonder how long it will take for me to be blocked from that account as well.
Blocked or not as long as their tweets are public I’ll be able to follow them on Twitter.
If you want to follow a real socially conscious CEO of a classifieds site then why not follow Greg Collier of Geebo.com whose site has been human trafficking free for 10 years.
To help spread the word on craigslist human trafficking you can win a free CraigsCrimeList T-Shirt.
Sex-trafficking opponents fight Craigslist’s ‘adult services’ ads:
I originally posted about ‘AK’, ‘MC’ and the Rebecca Project here. On that post I told you about how the Rebecca Project posted a full page ad in the San Francisco Chronicle telling the stories of AK and MC and how they were victims of human trafficking that took place on craigslist. They called for the end of the adult services section and never got a response from Craig Newmark.
Now they’ve posted a full page ad in the Washington Post and still have received no response from Craig. How do I know this. Well, some good citizen took it upon themselves to post the text of the ad on Craig Newmark’s own Facebook page. I’ve taken the liberty of taking screenshots just in case it gets deleted from the page.
You can click the thumbnails for the full size images. I’ve removed the identities of the innocent.
While there is someone who liked that post on Newmark’s Facebook page you’ll notice that there is no response from Newmark at the time I am writing this which is 8/8/2010 4:36 EDT. The post was put there on Friday. Newmark has responded to other posts since then.
What AK and MC says is true about shutting down adult services. Saving even one child is worth it. Not just the children Craig but the women too. Do you just not care or is the $30 Million worth more to you than the lives of the women and children that are trafficked on the site that bears your name? Why won’t you answer AK and MC?
To help spread the word on craigslist human trafficking you can win a free CraigsCrimeList T-Shirt.
Craigslist crime post #1283
Prostitution/Human Trafficking post #574
Reporter’s Sex-Trafficking Questions Silences Craigslist Founder:
I’ve posted before about how craigslist founder Craig Newmark was stunned into silence by CNN reporter Amber Lyon when she approached him with sex ads from craigslist. In case you missed it you can see the video here.
In this article from CBS News this is what a craigslist ‘spokeswoman’, probably Susan MacTavish, said in e-mail to CBS…
In an e-mailed statement to CBSNews.com, a spokeswoman wrote that the reporter “approached Craig under false pretenses for this “ambush” interview. It was a direct violation of the Society of Professional Journalists code of ethics which states that a journalist should “Avoid undercover or other surreptitious methods of gathering information except when traditional open methods will not yield information vital to the public.”
Considering how much both Buckmaster and Newmark hem and haw when it comes to the issues of prostitution and human trafficking I would most definitely say that that traditional open methods have not yielded information.
Again I have to point out the irony since Mr. Newmark is so interested in transparency in politics yet no transparency for the website he created.
To help spread the word on craigslist human trafficking you can win a free CraigsCrimeList T-Shirt.
Craigslist crime post #1280
Prostitution/Human Trafficking post #573
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