Attorney General Gansler Pleased with Craigslist’s Decision to Pull Erotic Services Listings

BALTIMORE, MD (May 13, 2009) - Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler announced today that Craigslist, the online classified ads site, will eliminate its “erotic services” section within seven days and replace it with an adult category that will be manually reviewed for illegal sexual services.

Craigslist signed an agreement in November with more than 40 attorneys general in which the company said it would take action to deter and crack down on inappropriate content and illegal activity in its erotic services section, including charging people to post ads in the “erotic services” section and requiring them to submit a working telephone number in order to use the site. Under mounting pressure from attorneys general from across the country, the company has decided to go even further, eliminating the section altogether.

“We are pleased with Craigslist’s decision to shut down its “erotic services” section and it is a good next step in our efforts to eliminate illegal sexual classified ads on the site,” said Attorney General Gansler. “We will continue to monitor the site to make sure Craigslist keeps its word and no longer allows the site to be an avenue for pornography and prostitution.”

As of today, the “erotic services” section will no longer accept new ads and existing ads will be allowed to expire over the next seven days. Posts to the new “adult services” section will cost $10, double the cost of posting to the “erotic services” section.