[piano music playing]
[Nacole] I dropped her off at school that morning like I always do,
and expected to pick her up about 5:30 from track practice.
[Kubiiki] She snuck out of the house with her friends to a back-to-school party.
They ended up at a Hardees
not too far from where I was living.
Later that afternoon,
about four o'clock, I got a phone call from one of her friends,
and he said that he had a note for me,
telling us that she loved us
and she needed to leave and go find herself.
One went back home,
the other young lady got into a car with several men,
and M.A. did not want to get into that car.
And that is when a woman approached her,
told her that she was going to help her to get back home.
And what she did was she...
brought her into a life of hell.
[Jessica Chastain] Kubiiki's daughter, M.A., who is 13,
and Nacole's daughter, J.S., who is 15,
are now among the 1.6 million homeless
and runaway children in America.
Within hours of dropping off the radar,
thousands of them will be sex trafficked.
A polite term for being repeatedly raped.
This is the story of the girls and their parents,
and their fight against a legal and political system
which protects a website earning millions of dollars a year.
A website where children are bought and sold,
with little more than a click of a mouse.
[Kubiiki] It was the third link from the top.
It had stars and hearts.
And it said, "Young and new."
But those stars and the hearts caught my attention.
And so I clicked it and...
there was the pictures of my daughter.
I called and asked to purchase the services myself.
[Kubiiki] We got her back, but she was addicted to drugs.
She had been very abused.
She ran away two more times.
I said, "Why are you running away?"
And she said, "Well, mom, I have to go and get these pills."
And I'm like, "What pills?"
And that's when I learned about the other things that,
you know, that she had shot her...
Next thing you know, boom.
[Kubiiki] My daughter was stabbed and burned,
and her head shaved,
and she was beaten.
The trafficker was prosecuted.
She was given a five-year sentence.
She was held responsible for her part of the crime.
[M.A.] Once I told her
about all the pain and suffering that I went through
and that I wanted revenge, she also did.
[Kubiiki] For the company that assisted by advertising my 13-year-old child for sale,
they were not held responsible.
Backpage.com.
We used it for buying and selling couches, TVs, video games.
I just never knew
that there were also humans for sale.
[Jessica] Kubiiki then calls Backpage.com.
She calls them repeatedly,
asking them to remove the pictures of her 13-year-old daughter,
which still remain online.
They refuse.
This sets Kubiiki on a collision course with Federal Judges,
special interest groups, and corporate money,
all clinging to a law which has been interpreted
to provide a safe haven for many things online,
including the purchase and sale of children.
Because her daughter's photos are still online,
Kubiiki then takes direct aim at Backpage.com.
[woman] Pedroli and Gauthier, how may I help you?
[Robert] I believe we were the first people to sue Backpage
on behalf of a trafficked minor.
[Kubiiki] I was thinking that everyone that played a part
in the damage to my child should be held responsible.
And that meant everyone.
[Robert] We would find pornographic pictures of sexual acts,
and it was all open and obvious.
It doesn't take much common sense
to figure out what the deal really is.
[Yiota] That number is just the tip of the iceberg.
It is a crime that happens against children
in every neighborhood, in every city and state in the country.
I think I was like anybody else that hears about it for the first time.
There's that disbelief.
There is no possible way this is true,
because this is the United States.
It's an incredibly profitable,
as horrifying as it is to say, business.
Here are the economics.
You're a drug trafficker, you can sell drugs once.
You're a human trafficker,
you can sell a kid over and over and over again.
A lot of the data on underage trafficking is very difficult.
And there's numbers all over the place.
We think it's around the 100,000 mark.
Twelve to fifteen percent of the kids we serve
were victims of human trafficking.
There are estimates out there that 1.6 million homeless kids
are out on the street at any given time.
You could be talking about 100, 150,000 kids
who have been victims of human trafficking.
Our kids are not visible. The number could be even higher.
[Jessica] These children, who were once visible on street corners,
are now quickly, efficiently, and anonymously sold online.
Wherever you look, however you slice it,
the numbers are huge.
And the demand is huge.
[Yiota] The majority of children that we see trafficked online
have been trafficked on Backpage.
[Jessica] Across the country in Seattle, at roughly the same time,
Nacole is desperately trying to locate her own daughter, J.S.,
who is 15 years old.
[Nacole] Forty-five days into it, I got a phone call from her.
It was my birthday.
She called to tell me that she loved me.
It's kind of a blur. I was just...
in shock. I just couldn't believe what was happening.
My first instinct as a dad, you want to go out and look.
You feel out of control.
Hopeless.
I went out and started searching every day.
I was becoming angrier and angrier.
I couldn't stop the tapes in my mind, the...
I couldn't stop thinking about what was possibly happening to her.
I was really frightened for her and I was determined to find her.
[Nacole] She told us that she was being hurt,
that she wasn't a good daughter,
she wasn't a good person,
and that we wouldn't want her.
[Nacole] You don't know whether she's alive or dead,
you don't know what's happened to her.
[Tom] I went to every bad neighborhood and I went to motels.
I canvassed where I thought they could have her.
It was really hard.
[Nacole] I remember a detective called sometime after the 45-day mark
and asked for dental records,
and you can only assume
that they're trying to identify a body.
[Tom] Every day that it went on, I just got more angry.
Then I went to the liquor store
I grabbed a bottle, and I started drinking.
And that's how I dealt with it.
She started advocating, and doing advocacy work.
And praying.
I was the opposite. I was angry.
I wanted to hurt a pimp. That's what I wanted to do.
I wanted to get even.
[Jessica] In September of 2010,
several months after filing the lawsuit,
Kubiiki's attorney, Robert Pedroli,
receives a phone call from Village Voice Media,
the parent company of Backpage.
They contacted me to feel me out,
and to tell me what wonderful people they were,
and how their founders were really cool guys from Greenwich Village,
and what did I know about that.
The conversation swings around to, you know,
"What are you guys looking for? You looking for a little settlement?
"We might be able to get you a little settlement
to help the girl out."
And I told him, "I doubt that that would work."
It wasn't about the money, it was just about the anger.
[Robert] At that point in time, they issued a press release
talking about how we're just looking for a payday.
That was not what we were looking for.
We were looking to prevent them from doing what they were doing
by having a judgment rendered against them.
[Nacole] I didn't even recognize her.
She had long, beautiful brown hair
and now she had very short, choppy red hair.
She had different clothes on.
On the ride home she told us that she had been raped and sold.
As bad as it was having her missing,
it was so traumatizing to hear these words coming
from your 15-year-old child.
It was devastating.
It took me a long time to realize
that I wasn't at fault for what happened to me.
[Nacole] I don't think everybody goes through life thinking
about child sex trafficking in the United States.
I know for me I didn't, not until it happened to my family.
I always believed it was something that happened in foreign countries.
You hear about it on the news.
But to find out that it happened in my own backyard
and that it can happen to the most normal of families
and the most normal of children,
and how quickly it could happen.
That's when I decided to take up the fight
and to pursue trying to shut down Backpage.com.
I am on a mission.
The most popular Internet site for escorts is called Backpage.com.
And in recent weeks, we've reported on growing pressure
by law enforcement officials and anti-sex trafficking groups
for Backpage to shut down its adult services section,
the section where authorities say underage girls are sometimes sold for sex.
[Jessica] In October of 2010, Craigslist shuts down its adult section
and the number of sex ads on Backpage skyrockets.
Backpage offers to meet
with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children,
or NCMEC,
to discuss the issue of child sex trafficking.
Well, there was a period of years
where NCMEC representatives and Backpage representatives
met fairly frequently.
We wanted to suggest ways that they can improve the site
and try to get rid of trafficking.
[Yiota] Backpage would always ask us what more they could do,
was always in discussions exploring those options with us.
[Jessica] One of Backpage's solutions was to hire moderators.
Their plan was to review every sex ad, every adult ad,
to screen for potential illegality.
[garbled voice] We had a list of words that we went by
that were not supposed to be used in the ads.
The moderation rules and banned term list changed often.
On an average eight-hour day,
I would go through seven to eight hundred ads.
A lot of times, I felt like we were flying by the seat of our pants.
[Jessica] In St. Louis,
Kubiiki's case against Backpage is finally decided,
eighteen months after it was first filed.
Backpage argued that Kubiiki's case should be dismissed
under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, or CDA,
a law which was enacted by Congress in 1996.
The CDA, put in place when the Internet was just beginning,
protects websites from being sued for content
that third parties might post.
Some courts have ruled that this immunity also covers illegal content.
I was well aware of the immunity created by Congressunder Section 230,
although it had not been applied against sexual trafficking cases.
The law simply says, as a website operator,
I am not responsible as the publisher
of what people are putting up on my website.
We argued, even if that's true, we're not suing you
solely as a publisher or developer of that content.
We're suing you because you've created
this highly-focused, honed website
that facilitates prostitution.
We thought anybody can understand this.
We lost the case,
and it was because of the Communication Decency Act.
[Robert] The judge determined that it was the policy of the United States
to allow for the unfettered growth of the Internet.
She was torn up.
[Jessica] At the same time Backpage wins its case in St. Louis,
Nacole takes steps to file her own lawsuit
against Backpage in Seattle.
[Nacole] I knew that there had been a trial out of Missouri,
so my first thought was to contact that attorney
and see how it was going over there.
He wasn't going to appeal the case.
He said that I should try to contact a different attorney.
At that point, I pulled out the phone book
and I started contacting attorneys.
I was turned down by several.
They told me it was too big.
I believe they were probably scared by what had happened in Missouri.
Didn't want to take it on.
[Nacole] When I first arrived at Erik's office,
it's this little, tiny, house-looking thing.
I remember walking in and I sat in just, like, a little side chair,
and my mother was nervous.
[Nacole] And I thought,
[laughing] "Hmm, what kind of an attorney operates
out of what looks to be a house turned into a law office?"
[interviewer] What was your first impression of Erik?
He was short.
[both laughing]
Everybody thought and told me that we were going to lose,
99 to 1, we're gonna lose.
He doesn't just take no as an answer.
[Erik] Well, at first I thought, this is insurmountable.
And I just disagreed with them, completely.
How is it possibly legal
that a company makes millions of dollars every year
helping pimps sell human sex trafficking victims,
including children.
Why would Congress ever grant immunity
to a company that engages in conduct like this?
[J.S.] And he said, "Let's do this.
Let's stop Backpage for what they've done to you."
And he was on board from day one.
[Erik] She was right out of seventh grade,
and she was trafficked for a long time.
And very heavily.
Getting raped on a daily basis by upwards of 20 adults a day,
having at these seventh grade kids
any way they want.
And that happens. And it's real.
[Lisa] Of the kids that we serve,
almost half of them are meeting their exploiters online.
They're using well-known
and sophisticated recruitment and grooming tactics.
Love, charm, and violence.
And fear. Fear comes with violence.
They'll have a spotter.
Maybe in a mall.
Fast-food places like Burger King and McDonald's.
If they see any low self-esteem,
or they're holding their head down
they're walking, and they don't make eye contact,
those are the ones that they go after.
Frankly what we see most frequently is seduction.
[interviewer] You used seduction, you used love.
Did you--
I wouldn't say love, but I used seduction.
Until she feels like this person's her whole world.
The easiest way tocontrol these girls is
through the use of narcotics.
And what we primarily see is meth and heroin.
Which they call the leash.
We typically see the recruiting process happen at methadone clinics.
We're looking at economic instability,
we're looking at housing instability.
[interviewer] What do you tell her to watch out for?
A guy that's talking about he's gonna solve all your problems.
Who in the world can do that?
[Kate] For a lot of folks that trade sex,
very often it's the least shitty
of a lot of shittier options.
[interviewer] How much money did any of these women make?
-How much did you make? -It wasn't their money, it was mine.
I made an undetermined amount of money
that was not their money.
Don't play with my money.
Ever.
[Swanee] When you step back and you look at the dynamics,
this is nothing less than modern day slavery.
You're just a product.
Backpage is the Walmart of human trafficking.
It's the public square.
[crowd chanting] Shut it down! Shut it down!
Shut it down! Shut it down! Shut it down!
[Jessica] By the Spring of 2012,
several anti-trafficking groups begin mounting
public pressure on Backpage.
[Liz] My name is Liz McDougall,
and I am here on behalf of Village Voice Media Holdings,
which owns Backpage.com.
I did not join Village Voice and Backpage
and to defend a company for engaging in illegal activity for profit.
I came with their commitment that I had the power and the free reign
to figure out the best ways to fight trafficking online--
I think hat you're missing is that you are a key part of the problem.
[Liz] I don't deny that Backpage is part of the problem, but
the problem is the internet.
[Julissa] You're making a profit off these pimps,
putting these girls on your website.
I have to tell you this is something...
This is the fourth hearing that I have,
and I've said this throughout this afternoon.
[Julissa] Every one of my hearings, Backpage is mentioned.
[Liz] I'd like to have a dialog with you,
not a confrontation and not an argument--
[Julissa] This is a hearing, so I'm questioning you.
Right now, we are doing more than anybody else
to help in the fight--
[Melissa] I want to just stop...
You're talking about being genuine.
You need to be transparent and accountable.
If you're not gonna do that, then really you're not being truthful.
Are you thinking about setting up a drug dealing section
of the Backpage.com website?
[Liz] I refuse to answer that question.
How about a gun trading or weapons trading section.
I'm sorry, are we here to have a sarcastic back and forth,
or would you like to exchange useful information?
[Brad] So far you haven't given us any information
on the volume of what's happening on Backpage.com.
You haven't given us any information on your profits.
You get up there and make statements.
The way a hearing works is that we ask tough questions.
Yes, that's how it works.
[Liz] You're welcome to ask tough questions,
but you have to give me the opportunity to reply fully,
and you've interrupted me twice.
I'd appreciate it if you'd let me answer fully.
My point is there is a protocol
with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
We're actually very proud.
We've been praised by that organization,
the CEO of that organization,
for the 2600 reports that we have made.
[Jessica] NCMEC has a slightly different view of its interactions with Backpage.
My impression was, they were more interested in using
an association with the National Center to clean up their public image.
[Yiota] It became apparent to us at NCMEC
that Backpage likely would not be adopting
any of the measures that we recommended.
Discussions with Carl Ferrer, Backpage's CEO,
often surrounded the fact that his moderators
were making reports about ads
that depicted possible children being exploited.
[man] I saw an ad for a young lady
that looked like she could have been 14 or 15 at least once a week.
[woman] And we would ask him repeatedly, "Why are those ads still online?"
There was an enormous amount of activity that people were undertaking
to try to mobilize a response against Backpage.
Good evening, everyone. It is ten o'clock here on the East Coast,
and we begin tonight with Keeping Them Honest in a corner of the internet
that's accused of being a marketplace for pimps
to peddle prostitution and exploit young women.
Fifty-one attorneys general in the United States want it shut down.
So do 19 US senators, 600 religious leaders,
and nearly a quarter million people who have already signed a petition.
Pressure on the website has been building for months.
We're doing everything to impede prostitution,
to impede the exploitation of women, children, sex trafficking.
The internet is, unfortunately, the vehicle for this.
We are trying to be the sheriff.
[woman] If you saw your daughter in this, like this, what--
I would be horrified,
and I'm horrified for those mothers,
and my heart goes out to those mothers and to their daughters.
I'd like to know how she feels about who should be held responsible.
So, if it was her child,
who do you think should be responsible?
If those were your child's pictures you saw?
[Tom] She puts the same information out there,
Collects her paycheck, and somehow she sleeps at night.
And I don't know how she does it.
I want to just shake her and make her understand.
But I know maybe coins and dollars might fall out.
We are here to demand an end to sex trafficking
and we're not going away.
[Margaret] Village Voice had a strong reputation,
you know, for fighting corruption,
and for them right now to be doing this,
and in some way promoting sex trafficking
because you allowing these ads to happen is really unfortunate.
The Voice played a role in New York City's journalism that was unequaled.
Everybody on the left in New York read it, it was the Bible of a movement.
As the press should, it's part of our mandate to bait politicians
and check their power.
That's what we're supposed to do.
It was a paper that dealt with the issues you cared about.
[woman] When did you first hear of Backpage.com?
Not until fairly recently, I gotta say.
[Jessica] In 2005, The Village Voice was sold to the Phoenix-based New Times,
an alternative newspaper chain co-founded by Michael Lacey and owned by Jim Larkin.
The New Times, like The Village Voice, had a tradition of progressive,
anti-establishment reporting.
[Tom] I called them the cowboys from Phoenix.
But I didn't understand how their business operation worked.
When we learned about Backpage, it was on the Internet.
It wasn't something that we could see, it wasn't in the paper.
The revenue coming in was completely off the books
in terms of what we could see.
We'd always had personal ads and display ads
which were massage parlors.
[Richard] Some of them were for prostitutes,
but a lot of them were just people offering invitations to sex.
Adults and their sexual practices and preferences is one thing.
[Tom] When we found out about Backpage,
there was something else entirely going on there.
People are actually, apparently, trafficking young girls.
Immediately, Lacey and his people
started talking about how they believed in prostitution.
The owners of Backpage can talk about this all day long.
That is freedom of speech.
They were looking for a journalistic cover for what they were doing.
But it is illegal to sell children for sex.
Period.
It's child abuse.
My father, Norman Mailer,
was one of three people that started this paper.
And it's very hard for me to be up here today
because I've always loved The Village Voice.
So, to the owners of the Village Voice Media,
you hold the legacy of this paper in your hands.
Please, do the right thing.
Take it down.
[Jessica] That same month in Seattle,
Nacole begins a telephone campaign to her state senators
on behalf of Senate Bill 6251,
which would require websites to obtain age verification for sex ads.
The goal is to ensure that children are not being advertised online.
I am the mother of a juvenile victim that was exploited on Backpage.com.
I did hear you say about the First Amendment,
and I'm asking "whose voice are we protecting?"
Are you protecting the website that makes millions?
These girls need a voice and I'm asking that you be their voice.
[Rob] Washington State enacted a first-of-its-kind statute
because of the number of reports we had of underage girls
being essentially sold on Backpage.com.
And when that bill passed, I was so proud.
I was proud of the State of Washington.
Backpage.com is making something like $30 million a year.
They are going to push back.
But let them push.
There are new battle lines being drawn in court over Backpage.com.
The State of Washington passed a law that's set to take effect today
that would require Backpage to verify the ages of
the people advertising in the adult services section.
It's designed to prevent children from being advertised online.
[Liz] That's something that we've been exploring for months and are continuing to explore.
When you're talking about the internet--
What does that mean, "continuing to explore"?
You guys have been in business for a very long time.
There have been plenty of people who have wanted you to do this before.
This isn't the first time you've ever considered this idea.
So why not just be able to say, "Yeah, we're gonna do this"?
It's gonna cost money, but if that's the right thing to do.
Money is not the issue.
The issue is how do you functionally implement this.
If you have any knowledge and understanding of how the internet works,
it's a practical impossibility in the internet realm.
Now, I'm clearly not an internet expert, but I'm not an idiot.
Clearly to me, it seems to be this is an issue of money.
I soon came to realize that Backpage.com
was gonna do everything in their power to make sure that this bill wasn't signed.
[Jessica] Backpage argues that Senate Bill 6251 would violate Section 230 of the CDA.
That they have no responsibility for third party postings.
The court agrees, and the bill dies.
♪ There's a lady ♪
♪ Such a lady ♪
♪ With perfect etiquette ♪
♪ She can cook An eight-course meal ♪
♪ And never break a sweat ♪
♪ Happy blessings to you God blessings to you ♪
Mommy! Mom!
[J.S.] I wanted to blame myself for my dad's drinking,
for my mom's crying all the time
and her emotional breakdown.
[Tom] There's not a handbook to tell you what happens when your daughter is raped,
and all these things happen.
[J.S.] I wanted to blame myself even for the man who had taken me.
You know, I wanted to blame myself for that.
You're walking around the house with an 800-pound elephant in the room
that nobody talks about.
All the time my daughter has been traumatized beyond imagine.
And we had been traumatized.
We didn't know how to deal with it.
And we didn't know how to help her deal with it.
I was just trying to hold it together as best I could.
Trying to wrap my head around how you take a child
that was a soccer star, a violinist,
and 36 hours later, she's being sold on a website.
My favorite hobbies are soccer and violin.
My favorite song is Crank That by Soulja Boy.
When I grow up, I'd like to be a doctor.
[Tom] Something is gone as a piece of her soul was gone.
[Jessica] In September of 2012,
Village Voice owners, Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin
decide to spin Backpage off into a separate company.
They leave The Village Voice, but elect to stay with Backpage.
They couldn't walk away from the real money.
[Tom] Here are these guys who had presented themselves to us as like,
"We really care about journalism. We really care about the news."
And they decided to go with this money
for this absolutely atrocious
sex marketing operation that they were running.
The fact that the owners of Backpage.com,
who forever have tried to say,
"We fight for media rights and we fight for free speech,"
when they decided to divert from Village Voice, they said
"We're staying with Backpage."
Don't tell me you're not in it for the money.
Dealing with Lacey and listening to all this jive
about how he was such a hard-nosed journalist.
"we broke a lot of stories," stuff like that,
and then to see him walk away
from one of the most distinguished names of newspaper
in the history of 20th century journalism
to go into the sex ad thing just seemed like,
"wow, man, the world is more messed up than I thought."
It's also possible to look at this in, really, just a slightly different way,
which is just as sad, maybe even sadder.
It's possible that Mike Lacey actually did believe in good journalism
and that that's why he created an alternative newspaper empire.
But what's really sad is in the end,
he would prefer to own Backpage than to own a real newspaper.
[man] It must have been hard to let go
because you guys had run the thing for so long, for a decade.
[Michael] Well, I do think it is difficult to let go,
but believe me, the people we worked with were happy to have us let go.
[Jessica] By the end of 2012,
public pressure on Backpage seems to evaporate,
even though it continues to dominate the market for sex ads.
[Brad] There is a sense of hopelessness that begins to set in a little bit.
And as long as these massive facilitators exist,
we're falling short as a field of where we need to get to.
[Jessica] In March of 2013, Backpage files a motion
asking the court to dismiss Nacole's case.
[Nacole] I wouldn't say I'm an expert today,
but one of the issues that we're having
is Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996.
Somewhere in that bill,
it protects websites like Backpage.com.
The reason Congress enacted Section 230 in the first place
was because of a lawsuit filed by Stratton Oakmont,
the boiler-room securities operation founded by Jordan Belfort,
better known as The Wolf of Wall Street.
-The show goes on! -Yeah!
This is my home!
They're gonna need a fucking wrecking ball to take me out of here.
Fuck them!
A bulletin board, by the name of Prodigy,
this was the very early days of the internet,
accepted a post from one of their members
that basically said that Belfort, Porush and people at Stratton Oakmont
were manipulating stocks and that they were criminals.
[Jessica] The court found that Prodigy was liable
for its failure to remove the comments posted about Stratton Oakmont,
and Belfort's firm won the case.
This decision meant that the courts, before the CDA was enacted,
found that websites could be responsible
for third party content posted on their sites.
[Erik] If Facebook were to get sued every time
a fifth grade kid said something bad about their teacher,
there'd be a lot of unnecessary lawsuits.
And that law created a safe harbor
for people who act as a conduit for internet content.
[Emma] Primarily, to the benefit of the vast majority of websites
that have nothing to do with illegal content.
The most ironic thing is that the postings were true,
because Belfort and others from Stratton Oakmont pled guilty
to manipulating that particular security.
[woman] And who chased Belfort?
Well, that would be me.
[Erik] One of the theories we have
is that Backpage is, in fact, in a conspiracy with the pimps,
that the posting rules are not designed to prevent
or to stop human sex trafficking,
but in fact, are designed to be a guide to pimps
to allow them to design an ad which helps them evade law enforcement.
So, instead of saying, "Come here, and we'll sell you sex for $100,"
these ads will say something more innocuous like,
"Face down, ass up, come see Tasha, $80 specials."
There's an entire system of code words
like "fresh" or "off the boat"
that are supposed to indicate that someone's under-aged.
Everybody who's in the industry and who's buying
knows exactly what those signals mean.
[Jessica] Emojis are a new visual language.
So, a rose is not a rose,
and an umbrella has nothing to do with rain.
It's code.
[man] You couldn't have 30 minutes.
However, you could say HH, which means half hour.
Without saying it was okay,
it was basically known that this code is okay.
You know, emojis are the new way to get words across.
So, the little water signs, "no umbrellas," that was allowed.
[woman] And what would that mean?
[man] No condoms.
I don't think a lot of us stopped
and thought, "This could be our sister or our brother."
It didn't particularly hit home for me
until I started realizing that this could have been me.
Yeah.
[Jane's mother] I dropped her off at her friend's house
and she was to be home right after the mall closed.
I contacted the police, I contacted the FBI.
I started calling some of the numbers on her phone log
and I had two men tell me
that they got my daughter's phone number from Backpage.
All three of our clients were about 15 years old
when they were first advertised on Backpage.com.
We say that they are engaged in affirmative conduct
which directly violates a criminal statute,
The Trafficking Victims Protection Act.
[Jane's mother] They're saying they're not responsible
for what people put on their website.
It goes much deeper than that.
What's on their website affects and hurt,
and traumatized a lot of people.
When these ads involving kids are posted,
the responses from potential customers start coming in within seconds.
[man] The ad would be live until it got approved,
anywhere from 30 seconds to two hours.
[Tom] There are customers who are seeing those kids
before the moderation ever occurs.
It was easy to use Backpage because you're sitting alone at home,
at your own leisure, and it was almost like shopping on Amazon.
One of our plaintiffs told us, "People used to order me on Backpage
as easily as you can order a pizza."
[John] I had got addicted to watching porn.
It was like a gateway drug.
[woman] Did you ever purchase sex from a minor?
No. I agreed to.
That's what I got was arrested for.
[woman] Because you got arrested, I'm assuming your wife found out.
-[John] Yes. -[woman] How about your kids?
[John] My youngest one ran in the bathroom and threw up.
In the US,
one out of seven men
say that they have bought illegal commercial sex.
They're white. They're married.
They live in the suburbs and they have children.
They aren't the people you would guess.
I've had from priests,
from lawyers to politicians.
Many men who buy sex don't realize the harm they're causing.
I want it to be clear and known that my daughter, Jane Doe, was raped.
[Jessica] The three Jane Doe victims in Boston are represented by Ropes & Gray,
one of the oldest and most prestigious law firms in the country.
Our goal is to establish that Backpage
is responsible for what has happened to these kids.
There are a number of things that Backpage does
that enables these pimps to more successfully traffic victims.
Allowing them to use prepaid credit cards,
and to post phone numbers not as numerical digits
but by spelling certain digits out.
Like 251 can be T-W-O and then the number five and the O-N-E.
And what that does is obstructs the ability for law enforcement
to track down phone numbers.
The other thing they do is allow these Bitcoin.
[John] Also, we alleged that Backpage initiated a scheme
to deceive law enforcement
while they increased their market share to becomea dominant player.
One of the things that they did as part of that strategy,
is that they hired general counsel, Liz McDougall,
to portray themselves as a company that was engaged
in an effort to police the internet.
And they hired her to become, in effect, the face of the company.
[Carol] I met Liz McDougall when I was Deputy Mayor for the City of New York,
and she was so lovely, and she was so credible.
As she told me of all the things that they did to protect children.
I think they called themselves, "The Sheriff of the Internet."
Okay, boys, fun is over.
[Carol] Now, I had just gotten a new iPad
and so then I stopped and I said,
"I think I'm about to buy a 13-year-old.
"How do you explain this?"
[Penny] And she seems surprised
when people accuse the company of facilitating trafficking.
Particularly child trafficking.
And she was, "Oh, my. Let me see that.
That's a mistake. Something went wrong.
We're going to fix that."
That is bullshit.
I unfortunately have to say
that Backpage's legal strategy has been very effective.
It's a mystery to me that Backpage keeps winning,
and that Backpage keeps winning in such grand style.
Very expensive lawyers,
cloaking themselves in the First Amendment and Section 230.
As far as a legal strategy, I guess it's brilliant,
'cause it has worked.
But is it right? No. It's not right.
[Jessica] In Seattle, a hearing is scheduled in Nacole's case,
nearly two years after it was originally filed.
The Washington State Supreme Court
will decide whether Section 230 of the CDA should protect Backpage.
NCMEC, which is no longer in discussions with Backpage,
files a brief in support of Nacole's case,
along with Covenant House, Shared Hope, and others.
[woman] Did you have any ambivalence filing the brief,
given your history with Backpage?
No.
[all laughing]
[Jason] He reached out to us and asked if we'd be willing to help him
basically battle against Backpage.com.
This is maybe the most important case that we handle in our legal career.
We're looking at the CDA to figure out, you know, how do we get around this?
There's 300-plus cases out there going the other way.
[man] Everyone wanted to do the oral argument,
that's always kind of the cherry on top of the ice cream there.
Initially, I thought a more seasoned appellate lawyer should do it.
[Erik] I'm essentially a street lawyer when it gets right down to it.
[Michael] Erik was adamant that he wanted to argue the case,
and we talked about it.
He's stubborn.
One stubborn guy.
They ended up deciding that, you know, I could go ahead and do the oral argument.
[Nacole] I remember being at the courthouse,
and there were people outside holding signs
and I thought, you know, how cool to have all this support.
I mean, this is the Supreme Court. I mean, it's huge.
[Erik] I was amped.
Tom and I went off alone, and prayed.
J.S., S.L., and L.C. versus Village Voice Media Holdings, LLC.
May it please the court, my name is Jim Grant,
I'm here on behalf of the petitioners,
Village Voice Media Incorporated, Backpage.com and New Times Media.
Congress made a clear policy choice in enacting Section 230 of
the Communications Decency Act, and the choice was to preserve free speech on the internet,
Congress decided to give online service providers immunity for their actions
for content posted by third parties.
The point is that when that third party posts online,
you cannot sue the website.
The attorneys for Backpage did their normal argument
that they're here to protect children,
and that they are protected under the CDA.
[Steven] Your client wouldn't say with a straight face that it's unaware
that escort services is really something else most of the time.
[Jim] I would say that...
certainly we all know that unlawful things occur over the internet
and that there have been occasions when other things have occurred.
[Emma] The kind of protection that 230 provides,
it is a blanket immunity, and this can seem extreme in some cases.
You know, the more extreme you take a hypothetical,
the more questionable it can seem.
If you are making a living off of snuff films
because you are attracting that as your content to your website,
and that's what you're making your money doing.
It's like a partner in crime, if you will.
May it please the court.
My name is Erik Bauer, and I represent the minor respondents in this matter.
[Faith] When Erik stood up to argue, I was feeling elated.
We had been preparing for so long, and it was just time.
I've never seen him get so emotionally involved in a case.
It's not the size of the building or the size of the ad,
it's the determination and the passion put into the fight.
[Erik] My clients were in the seventh and ninth grade
when they became controlled by adult professional sex traffickers, pimps.
So, why is Backpage liable?
Backpage is claiming that they have immunity
for helping pimps sell children on their website.
Our assessment is, Your Honor, is that they are responsible, at least in part,
for both the creation of these ads
and for the development of these ads.
These so-called posting rules that are on the Backpage.com website,
they're actually instructions to pimps on how to post an ad that works.
One of their rules says, "Don't advertise time increments in 15 minutes."
Hey, that's kind of short.
Where can you escort somebody in 15 minutes?
They don't want it to be that obvious, that much of a red flag.
Backpage said that, "Escort services are legal
and if somebody wants to do something illegal, that's not our fault."
What's your response to that?
This is prostitution masquerading as escort, whatever escort is.
I mean, are these people wholesaling children
in Washington State or not?
Are they doing it deliberately?
[Nacole] And I remember leaving there thinking,
we've got this, we got this.
This has been such an uphill fight, because at every turn they've won.
And then we started the wait.
[Jessica] In December of 2014, Backpage, which now operates in 88 countries,
is reportedly sold to a Dutch company.
According to a Dallas paper, Backpage's CEO, Carl Ferrer,
will continue to run the company.
[woman] With a long list of questions,
our search for Backpage CEO, Carl Ferrer brings us right here.
Carl Ferrer has turned down several of our interview requests
so we've come here to Amsterdam.
-[woman] Carl? Carl Ferrer? -[Carl] Yes.
Hi, we've been looking for you.
-[Carl] Oh, yeah. -Do you have a second?
I'm Gloria Riviera from ABC News.
We just wanna ask you a few questions.
No comment.
[woman] You know, law enforcement tells us
that underage girls are trafficked on Backpage.com, your company.
[Carl] No comment.
[woman] We saw a real-life example of this last week...
It took me a while to realize that I was not a prostitute.
I don't like that word.
I was a child.
At first I was like, "Why did I run away?"
The reality is that children all across America
are sneaking out of the house all the time.
I'm just a kid and shouldn't nobody be doing this to me.
[Kubiiki] Being trafficked has caused my daughter to have anger issues.
[Nacole] She became very reclusive.
[Tom] Kids at school kind of found out what happened,
so we had her home-schooled.
Friends, they called me horrible names,"whore" and "slut," and...
and it's just lack of information on their part.
[Jane] There are definitely people who feel like it's your fault.
And that's another reason why you don't speak about it.
And that's why I don't wanna talk about it if I don't have to.
[Kubiiki] It has been a fight to keep her safe and to keep her alive
and to keep her out of the life.
She stuck by my side when nobody else did.
I lost my virginity and was raped,
and I... I don't know.
I definitely look at...
sex differently now, I don't know.
Kids in high school were so infatuated with sex all the time, and I just...
I don't know.
I just look at it completely different now.
It's not everything everybody hypes it up to be.
[Kubiiki] I don't want anyone to have to go through what my daughter has had to go through.
Given the opportunity to speak to Backpage,
I would tell them that on April the 7th, 2010,
they changed our family's life forever.
We will never be the family we were before my daughter went missing,
and before she was sold on that website.
[Nacole] The CDA has given them the ultimate say in this,
and I'm here to tell them, as a parent, I am not okay with that.
I would just ask the same question my daughter asked you.
What would you do if it was your child?
[Jessica] In April of 2015,
the US Senate begins investigating online sex trafficking.
Their investigation leads them to Backpage.
[Rob] The more you hear about this
and the increased incidents of sex trafficking,
the more Backpage comes up.
[John] We live in a border state
where a lot of this cross-border sex trafficking takes place.
[Heidi] And so when we said, "How does this happen?",
we realized this is coming from advertising on Backpage.
We aren't dealing with prostitution, we're dealing with human slavery.
[Claire] Is Backpage an innocent facilitator
or do they actually have a more active role
in fashioning the kinds of ads that are actually being placed?
Do they have clean hands here?
[John] The Court said that Congress could protect exploited children
or it could protect the internet.
And that it chose to protect the internet.
Now that particular statement really pissed me off,
because I don't think Congress did any such thing.
He was frustrated, because he felt as though
the Judge did not understand what he was trying to argue.
[woman] The fact that Ropes & Gray lost is actually a revelation
of how much the court system needs to be trained
on child sex trafficking.
[Yiota] So, his decision was not overwhelmingly surprising,
it was overwhelmingly disappointing, though.
[woman] You think he's gonna say, "I've had it"?
[both] No way.
-He'd never give up. -He won't give up.
[Jessica] Net Revenue for Backpage hits an all-time high in 2015.
That is, until Sheriff Tom Dart in Chicago,
frustrated with the number of sex-trafficked victims he's finding
decides to take matters into his own hands.
[Tom] More and more of the sex industry
had transferred from the street onto the internet.
We were answering ad after ad, after ad,
and we were finding that every case, every one was,
in fact, someone who was prostituting themselves,
someone who was being trafficked.
We'd respond to an ad, it was always a criminal act.
The crapshoot was whether it was an adult or a child.
The Sheriff recognized that something needed to be done.
[Jessica] Sheriff Dart sends cease and desist letters
to MasterCard and Visa
informing them that they've been in business
with a company involved in human trafficking.
And as a result, both Visa and Mastercard stopped doing business with Backpage.
[Jessica] Backpage loses all income from the credit card companies,
a temporary blow to its revenue.
It then begins offering free adult ads,
with upgrades payable by personal check or Bitcoin.
What is important about that action is that
it was a number of Fortune 500 companies
telling that business, that they believe there is illegal conduct happening
and they weren't gonna support it.
Backpage sued Sheriff Dart
claiming that his actions were a violation of the First Amendment.
It's in the courts now and the courts are gonna decide
where that's gonna go.
[Marian] He's put his neck on the chopping block.
He does what he thinks is right at all costs.
[Jessica] Back in Seattle, it is now three years since Nacole's case was first filed.
She's waiting for a decision from the Washington State Supreme Court.
Time goes on, and you have days where you're like,
"You know, I don't think this can go our way."
You know, the first month passed, and then the second month passed,
and then the fifth month passed.
And I remember being at work on September 3rd.
My heart stopped. I was like...
Limbo was okay, because we hadn't won or lost.
And I walked outside, and I prayed.
And ten minutes later I got the call...
that the court had found in our favor.
[Jessica] The court ruled that if Backpage actively helped
to develop the sex ads on its site,
and was not just a passive host,
then Backpage should not be protected by Section 230.
The case is allowed to proceed to trial.
[Erik] I was absolutely stoked.
We'd waited almost a year to get that ruling,
and it meant we could proceed with this case.
And I was just so grateful.
I almost wrecked my car.
I love Erik Bauer. [chuckles]
There is a sense of optimism that progress is being made
and that it's not completely futile.
There's not losses across the board.
[Jane] It was a blessing and God was watching over us that day
when they made that decision.
Now I know my worth and what I was put on earth to do.
And it's to help people that can't be helped.
[Jane's mother] You know, we might actually have a voice that would do something.
I know it would help me and my daughter,
and it would help so many other girls out there that just,
they don't know what's out there until it's too late.
[Nacole] It's hard, this fight.
[J.S.] They know what they're doing is wrong,
and they know that children are being trafficked on their website,
and they fail to do anything to fix it.
And we're gonna change that.
[Jessica] Two months later, on November 3rd, 2015,
the senate subcommittee subpoenas Carl Ferrer, Backpage's CEO,
to testify at a hearing in Washington DC.
On that very same day, Backpage lays off a majority of its moderators,
advising them to call a company lawyer if contacted by investigators.
[man] I Googled the lawyer and it looked as though she was a criminal lawyer.
It solidified the fact that there was an underlying situation happening
that was illegal.
-[woman] Are you scared? -[man] Yes.
[Jessica] The e-mail circulated to the Backpage employees who were laid off
was from someone named jacquie@backpage.com.
But her signature line does not actually say "Backpage."
It says, "Website Technologies."
A search of the Texas Secretary of State records
reveals that the president of Website Technologies for 2015
is Jim Larkin, the original Backpage owner,
contradicting the widely held assumption
that he was no longer actively involved with Backpage.
That same month, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago
agrees to hear Backpage's case against Sheriff Dart.
The issue here is whether Sheriff Dart has trampled
Backpage's First Amendment rights
by sending cease and desist letters to Visa and MasterCard.
[man] The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held a hearing.
It was heard by three judges including Judge Richard Posner.
Judge Posner is probably, I think, considered one of the top jurists
at least in our generation or his generation.
[man] Our first case for argument is Backpage versus Dart.
[man] May it please the court.
Sheriff Dart set up a task force for this specific purpose
of taking down Backpage.com, as they put it, "legally or otherwise."
[man] You know, a police official has to be very careful in what he says.
[woman] Your Honor, Visa's action was taken out of concern that their brand--
Look, the tone of this is so unprofessional.
He talks about a violent industry.
Is phone sex violent?
-[woman] The content of-- -[man] Is phone sex violent?
-[woman] It can be. -[man] Really?
-[woman] It certainly can be. -[man] How?
[man] And what about also old people,
old men who would like to be seen with a young woman?
That is an aspect of the escort service. It's not all sex.
I wasn't really sure that Judge Posner had a firm grip
on what happens on Backpage.com.
It felt a bit like the twilight zone.
The part that really bothered me
was the part where he indicated that,
"sometimes a man just wants to be seen in the company of a younger female."
I mean, in my case, I had kids that are posed with, you know, in thong underwear,
with their butts faced up at the camera.
I mean, you wanna be seen in company
with a kid dressed in her underwear, well, what's that?
[Jane's mom] I remember seeing my little girl in her underwear.
I see my child...
in different poses...
that look like she was drugged.
[woman] When you got that call that said your daughter is on Backpage,
what was your reaction?
[Jane's mom] I fell to the floor.
I don't know if the owners of the website have children,
but I hope it doesn't happen to them.
[Erik] When the CDA is being interpreted by courts
to allow websites such as Backpage.com
to engage in human sex trafficking,
then we have a problem with the statute, I guess.
Or we have a problem with the judges.
Either way, we got a problem.
And if the judges are too obtuse
and if they don't get it,
then I guess it needs to be made crystal clear
that Congress does not support human sex trafficking.
[Jessica] Two weeks later, a senate subcommittee convenes a hearing
on child sex trafficking in Washington DC.
[man] This hearing will now come to order.
In a bipartisan staff report released today,
we have outlined some preliminary findings
and further questions that need answers.
The report reveals that Backpage has had a practice of editing some advertisements
by deleting words and images before publication.
These editing practices likely serve to conceal evidence
of the illegality of the underlying transaction.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
reported an 846 percent increase
in reports of suspected child sex trafficking.
According to one industry analyst, eight out of every $10 spent
on online commercial sex advertising in the United States
goes to Backpage.
The company's fair market value,
taking into account its lack of marketability,
is approximately 430 million.
We're here to talk about the online lucrative sale
of America's children for sex,
which in our experience occurs most prominently
on the website Backpage.com.
[Senator] Can you explain your testimony
that there is more stringent posting rules for selling a motorcycle
than selling a 12-year-old?
I really have no explanation for that, Senator.
Backpage's top lawyer has described its moderation process
as the key tool for disrupting and eventually ending human trafficking.
Backpage initially told its outside moderators
that they should "fail"
ads containing references to certain sex acts and words,
including "schoolgirl," "teen,"
and "Y-U-N-G."
Two days later, Backpage reversed that policy.
Importantly, guidance from Backpage emphasized in all capital letters
"If in doubt about underage,
the process should now be to accept the ad.
Only delete if you're really very sure person is underage."
That was in all caps.
[man] I'd like to call the CEO of Backpage, Carl Ferrer.
We had hoped Mr. Ferrer would be here.
He just didn't show up.
Certainly not something that you no-show for.
Absolute disregard to not show up.
Mr. Chairman, I have been a member of this subcommittee for many years.
I've never known of a witness to refuse a subpoena.
And I'm sure that you will
take the necessary action to ensure that that is not done with impunity.
He called me and said, "You're not gonna believe." I said, "I saw it."
I've never seen anything like that.
I have never seen a witness refuse to show up in light of a subpoena.
Backpage, at every turn,
has tried to shield anybody
from getting information behind the scenes.
What are they hiding?
I think we're gonna find that they have been tipping the scales
towards accepting ads
that clearly are designed to get at customers
who want to have sex with children, to put it plainly.
We want to find out, you know, how they do business,
whether they edit their advertisements or not.
They refused to even participate.
It's not only the issue of human trafficking,
but it's a direct assault, his failure to appear,
on the Constitutional responsibilities of
the Congress of the United States.
It is very unusual for someone to say, "Nah, I'm just not gonna show up."
And with that, this hearing is adjourned.
The Seventh Circuit decided that, that kind of government pressure
against a website with the goal of censoring it,
violates the First Amendment.
"Nor is Sheriff Dart..."
"...on solid ground in suggesting that everything..."
"...everything in the adult section of Backpage's website is criminal."
[man] "Fetishism? Phone sex?"
[man] "Performances by striptease artists?"
[man] "Vulgar is not violent."
[woman] "Vulgar is not violent."
[woman] One ad in the category, 'Dom and fetish...'"
[man] "...is for the services of 'professional dominatrix.'"
[woman] "A woman who is paid to whip or otherwise..."
[man] "...humiliate a customer in order to arouse him sexually."
[woman] "It is not obvious that such conduct endangers women or children..."
[woman] "...or violates any laws."
Interesting.
To read something like that was, frankly, it was alarming to me.
I thought it read like a cheap, dime-store novel.
These victims are predominantly women, underage girls.
And I wonder if some of that gets lost
when the issues are being decided by male judges.
The court was utterly unfamiliar
with the crime of child sex trafficking
and with some of the ads that are posted on Backpage.
In terms of advertising for trafficking people,
I mean, that's not freedom of speech stuff,
you know, that's criminal activity.
You know, Pretty Woman. I gotta bring up the Pretty Woman thing.
We've created this sort of myth in our culture
of, you know, the Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman.
And the reality is far, far different.
Can't watch it.
Loved that movie.
Because Pretty Woman is not the scenario.
What we've done before or after the lawsuit
is go out and we try to get people who are trafficking children.
It's a very difficult thing to do because of the nature of it.
[Jessica] In Boston, John Montgomery prepares his case, Doe versus Backpage,
hoping to convince the First Circuit Court of Appeals
that Section 230 should not apply to protect Backpage.
May it please the court. My name is John Montgomery.
What are the allegations, precisely, of unlawful activity by Backpage?
It's operating an online marketplace
that then coaches those traffickers
who are going to engage in that activity.
This is a very important case to the three young women we represent
and the many others that, in effect, they represent.
There are very few cases, maybe two or three,
where the internet service provider is alleged to have participated
in a federal criminal offense.
[John] Getting there by 9:00 would be terrific.
Because it enables us to then kind of walk back and forth
in front of the courthouse nervously.
[Jessica] On January 6, 2016,
the First Circuit Court in Boston hears oral arguments in Doe versus Backpage.
Remarkably, Justice David Souter, formerly a Supreme Court Justice,
will be one of three judges hearing the case.
[man] Mr. Montgomery, go ahead.
[John] Our principal claims are that Backpage
is engaged in intentional criminal conduct.
[man] They had the intent to further the sex-trafficking?
[John] They intended to further the sex-trafficking trade.
[man] What in your complaint goes the further step of saying actually,
they're participating in the venture to sex traffic, as opposed to advertise?
Why is that different from what a newspaper does
when it has a special advertising section for
Washington's Birthday Car Sales?
[John] They host communications off-line
between the sellers of illegal sex,
including with children and buyers.
That occurs on their site.
They are participating in the venture. That is the point.
[Jeffrey] May it please the court, Jeffrey Pyle--
[man] Mr. Pyle, at some point will you respond
to the last argument that Mr. Montgomery made,
that there is something more than advertising going on?
You are being held liable, if we let it go forward,
for being a participant in a sex-trafficking venture.
[Jeffrey] Those ads were created by
the plaintiffs themselves or by their pimps.
Not by Backpage.com.
[man] I take it you agree that it is possible for a publisher
to also be a participant in a sex trafficking venture,
where the pimp himself runs a website.
[Jeffrey] Yes.
Publishers usually don't go out and participate in federal crimes,
let alone sex trafficking ventures.
And that really is, if we can get two judges to agree with that point,
I think we probably have three judges that would agree with it,
that bodes very well for us.
Right. The question though is, where it takes us.
-Right. -Right.
When Justice Souter launched into his car advertisement analogy,
it was sort of, "why are we comparing trafficked girls to cars?"
There could have been better answers to some of the questions.
A prepared panel in a hard case means that you could be waiting a while.
I think we have a good shot,
and I can't wait to call the Jane Does and tell them how it went.
-I think we're in the game. -Yeah.
[Yiota] The First Circuit argument
was certainly one of the most active benches I've ever seen.
All of the judges had clearly read the briefs.
It made me feel a bit optimistic in what the decision might be.
[man] I think Ropes & Gray will win.
I don't want to sound like a Debbie the Downer,
but no matter how many times you come up against the Communications Decency Act
it's always gonna shut you down.
[Jane's mother] Since my daughter was sold on Backpage
she's a totally different person.
She's traumatized.
That spark and fire I used to see in her eyes is gone.
[man] Well, it's forever changed her.
[Jane's mother] She blames herself. It affects her every day.
[J.S.] The guilt and just feeling ashamed of yourself,
I've struggled a lot with that.
[M.A.] Do you know how many mentors I've had?
Do you know how many therapists I've had?
Do you know how many "friends" I've had?
[Jane's mother] She feels that her childhood has been gone, ruined.
[Tom] She's still suffering from that dissociative,
dysfunctional part of what happened.
Every time I think about it, I get sad and depressed,
and I'm having flashbacks.
Violin, soccer, track, friends, uh...
memories with my brother and sister playing.
I mean, all of that just kind of went away.
[woman] This is one of those things
I honestly would not wish on my worst enemy.
[J.S.] I have to live every single day of my life now
with everything that's happened to me.
And my parents have to live with the grief
in knowing that I go through that every single day.
[Jane's mother] I think I've cried more this year than I've ever cried in my life.
[woman] Oh, my God.
[Jane's mother] Yeah.
[Rob] We're now proceeding with this contempt of Congress,
which sadly, we're forced to do that,
because Backpage refuses to provide us information.
We actually found out through some evidence
that Backpage actually instructed people to edit advertisements,
including to take out evidence of illegality.
But I think that's why they're working so hard to avoid our subpoenas.
[Rob] To me, that makes them complicit.
What I'm going to recommend to the subcommittee
is that we have a contempt of Congress filed against Backpage.
And I think the committee will go along with us.
We'll see. I hope so.
Senator McCaskill and I today as a result
are asking the committee to report a resolution to authorize
civil enforcement and contempt proceedings
against Backpage and against its CEO, Carl Ferrer.
I am glad that Senator Portman is calm,
because every once in a while I'm ready to do a McCain on these guys.
[man] No, not that!
I think a McCaskill would be good enough. I've seen it in operation.
Frankly, I don't recall
a time when a witness has refused to testify in this fashion.
I don't know if your staff has--
-It's been 20 years, John. -It's been 20 years.
If there is no further debate or amendment,
the question is on final passage of the original resolution
directing Senate Legal Counsel to bring a civil action to enforce a subpoena
of this Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.
-[woman] Senator McCain. -Aye.
-[woman] Senator Portman. -Aye.
-[woman] Senator Paul. -Aye.
-[woman] Senator Langford. -Aye.
-[woman] Senator Ayotte. -Aye.
[woman] On this vote the yays are 15, the nays are zero,
and the motion is agreed to.
What we did today was we passed through the committee
the first step in holding individuals at Backpage
in contempt of Congress.
Now, that hasn't happened in 20 years.
Got a unanimous vote.
By the way, it's hard to get anything unanimous around here.
But it'll be very interesting to see what happens.
[John] The senate subcommittee took yet another step to investigate Backpage.
Right now, we are waiting for the First Circuit Court of Appeals.
One day we're excited, then get nervous. But we're pretty confident.
I would put money on us.
We are actually very hopeful.
This guy runs a 1400-man law firm out of Boston.
You've gotta be quite a lawyer to ride herd on 1400 other sharks.
[John] Thank you to everybody for gathering
and, you know, particularly to Yiota coming up from Washington DC
and Erik, all the way from Seattle, Washington.
We could call this our first ever in-person Backpage summit.
The first thing that I think would be interesting to talk about
is to get everybody's reactions,
to the most recent decision we have regarding Backpage.
[Erik] I was not impressed with the First Circuit's thinking.
I agree with you. I think it's just
sort of a gross abdication of responsibility by the judiciary
to address what's actually happening here, which is the sale of kids.
The decision seemed to really whitewash the activities
and really say there was some publishing here,
that triggers CDA, this case is over.
There's just some real academic distance
between your federal appeals court judge and our plaintiffs.
In other words, these guys got to get out of their ivory towers.
I would settle for them to just go on the internet and go to Backpage.com.
I'll tell you, two out of three of those judges do not use the internet.
These guys don't know how to work their VCRs.
[all laughing]
We will evaluate our approach to the US Supreme Court.
Because our case is in progress
and we are going to trial and we do intend to win,
I don't want to broadcast our strategy quite yet either
and give Backpage a blueprint as to what we're going to do.
[Jessica] I think the decision was misguided.
And that they wouldn't hold Backpage responsible was very disturbing to me.
[Penny] There is this lofty discussion about Section 230,
and at the end of the day, the rapes are barely discussed.
They're discussed in passing.
There's a line that says something like, "So here's the tale."
[Penny] And it's not a tale. There was a child who was raped a thousand times.
That is outrageous.
They think Congress should fix this, not the courts.
And we think it's actually their job and they're not doing it.
All I know is that I'd like to meet a member of the judiciary
or a member of Congress that thinks that this situation,
the status quo is satisfactory.
[Kubiiki] It doesn't make sense that you can sit
and you can hear the testimony or, you can see all of the evidence
and you cannot feel a certain amount of responsibility
to make things right.
We need someone to give us a fighting chance.
[John] I hope that every American would get angry as well
and the next time a federal judge or a state judge
alleges that somehow this practice is acceptable in America,
then speak up.
This is a legacy issue for these judges.
The judges that are making these decisions are gonna be read about in history.
[man] These judges are gonna be judged themselves.
This can't happen anymore.
No matter what the CDA says.
[instrumental music playing]
[woman] Calendar number 375. SRES377,
directing the Senate legal counsel to bring a civil action
to enforce a subpoena of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.
Backpage and its Chief Executive Officer, Carl Ferrer,
have not been willing to cooperate with the committee
and unfortunately, we're at the point
where we have to seek the enforcement of our subpoena.
By passing this, we will send a message to others,
we will send a message to others, I say to my colleague from Ohio,
they can run, but they can't hide.
During our November 19th hearing,
I promised that while the subcommittee would move forward
carefully and cautiously,
we would not go quietly into the night.
And on some day in the near future,
we would use the Senate's enforcement measures
to compel cooperation from Backpage.
Today is that day.
The clerk will call the roll.
[woman] Mr. Johnson, aye.
Miss Herono, aye.
Mr. Heller, aye.
[man] The vote is 96 in favor, none opposed. Senate Resolution 377 is agreed to.
It was a unanimous decision, 96 votes.
I was so proud and so happy.
[Erik] We're gonna win. We're gonna sink that ship.
I guarantee it.
[Jessica] Senate Resolution 377 only authorizes the Senate to file suit against Backpage
to enforce its subpoena.
But this vote could possibly be the first step in a long protracted battle,
not just with Backpage, but to amend Section 230.
David Boies, fresh off, of winning the Supreme Court case
about same sex marriage,
decides to enter into the fray.
He, with others, begins preparing a new lawsuit against Backpage.
Good afternoon, Boies, Schiller & Flexner.
When you have an organization that clearly understands that they are facilitating
this illegal conduct,
it just seemed to me that it was a terribly important case to take on.
Our legal strategy is to demonstrate that Backpage is everywhere.
So, we are going to file multiple lawsuits
and mobilize the communities that have been touched by Backpage.
[Carol] Judges need to be educated,
the public needs to be educated,
the Department of Justice needs to be educated
on exactly what's going on here.
The idea that Backpage is just trying to cater to fetishes of old men,
doesn't really involve underage children,
I don't think they're gonna be able to make that in court
with a straight face.
The witness stand is a lonely place to lie.
We're gonna bring them into court
and they can tell that story under cross-examination.
Let's see if they can sustain it.
I don't think they can.
[man] State and federal authorities have arrested
55-year old Carl Ferrer in Houston this afternoon.
Ferrer will face charges related to pimping...
[John] If Backpage is immune from liability,
that has to mean that this immunity actually extends to intentional criminal conduct.
And the First Circuit actually agrees with that argument.
Perhaps, you know, the courtroom isn't going to be the end-all be-all
when it comes to solving this problem.
Congress absolutely must act.
[Rob] Once we get the information,
pull back the curtain, see what's really happening here,
then I think a legislative response is the next logical step.
I think you would see a lot of opposition to the idea of amending Section 230.
[Jessica] The Center for Democracy and Technology,
and the Electronic Frontier Foundation,
two high-powered organizations dedicated to internet freedom,
have both submitted legal briefs supporting Backpage
in its cases against J.S. and Jane Doe.
A Google search of donors to the Center for Democracy and Technology
reads like a who's who of tech companies.
Their larger donors include Facebook, Microsoft and Google.
Which means that funds from these companies
are being used to support Backpage
in these cases involving underage sex trafficking.
Silicon Valley breaks out in a cold sweat when we talk about amending CDA,
but there are ways that we could do this
that could get at the trafficking of children.
The government cannot just censor speech that it disagrees with or dislikes.
[Robert] The money and the lobbies are preventing any change,
even though it's a reasonable change,
as if we're going to have to go to the altar of the First Amendment,
and ask for forgiveness.
Lots of votes taken, but nothing has happened.
So many people are not interested
in changing the laws in regards to the internet.
Whatever action needs to be taken to address this problem,
needs to be taken.
Now, if that requires amending the Decency Act, then fine.
I'll be glad to do it.
They're just proceeding a little bit too slowly.
[Rob] Last night we issued a report.
It showed evidence of criminal activity
and we had to spend 18 months and go all the way to the Supreme Court
to get this information.
[Rob] More than 20 months ago, this subcommittee launched a bipartisan investigation
concerning how sex traffickers use the internet to ply their trade.
Backpage.com sits at the center of that online black market.
Backpage refused to cooperate with the subcommittee's investigation.
They defied our subpoena,
failing to appear at the November of 2015 hearing,
or provide the requested documents.
We'd now like to call our first panel of witnesses for today's hearing.
It's the custom of this subcommittee to swear in all witnesses.
Do you swear that the testimony you are about to give before this subcommittee
will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,
so help you God?
Please be seated.
Last night, Chairman Portman and I received word from Backpage
that in response to our report,
the company has shut down its adult sections
across the United States effective immediately.
I'm sure that was a pure coincidence.
[Claire] Only time will tell
if this action is just a cheap publicity stunt.
Backpage deliberately edited out words indicative of child sex trafficking.
"Fresh," "innocent," "school girl" and even "Amber Alert."
Those children were still sold.
Shame on you.
Shame on you for hiding behind the First Amendment.
If an underage girl is being sold for sex
and her pimp puts the word "Lolita" in the advertisement,
stripping that term out of the ad
doesn't magically change the girls age, does it?
I decline to answer your question.
Based on the rights provided by the First and Fifth Amendments.
[Claire] Mr. Lacey, am I to understand from your responses
you will invoke your Fifth amendment right
in response to any and all questions posed to you today?
Clearly.
[Rob] This concludes the questioning of this panel.
You are excused from the panel based on your assertion of your Fifth Amendment rights.
[woman] You were at the hearing today,
Backpage has pulled down their escort site.
That was a publicity stunt on Backpage's part.
It was showmanship.
I think it is a ruse.
And the next Backpage is gonna come along
unless we fix the CDA.
[woman] How long will you be able to keep the litigation going
on your own resources?
As long as it takes.
Straight up, as long as it takes. I can do this case.
[woman] You'll sell the furniture?
I'll sell the furniture.
And I'll get a good price.
Regardless of all the legalities about what's permissible,
the question is what's right.
[David] There is a question as to what kind of society we're going to be,
whether we're going to tolerate sexual trafficking in children.
That is an affront to everything that we believe.
[John] And that question for Backpage, I think, is this.
Do you protect kids from trafficking
or do you profit from their suffering?
That's the question.
[Wayne] How this could become part of the legacy of The Village Voice
is depressing to me.
This kind of operation would be exactly
what the Voice would want to expose.
This company of adults
made the decision to post these pictures
without even taking the time to find out if they were children.
They made a mistake in allowing my daughter to be sold 20 times a day on the website.
What if it was your daughter?
How would you feel then?
[Jessica] M.A., J.S., and the other Jane Does
are standing up and reclaiming their voices,
not just for themselves
but for thousands of other children across the country,
challenging a law that has been interpreted so broadly
as to defy common sense,
speaking out and fighting back.
Demanding that we answer that very question.
What kind of society do we want to be?
She was precocious,
nosy, opinionated.
[Nacole] Oh, my gosh, she was bubbly and outgoing.
She always wanted to be in the mix of everything.
[Kubiiki] What I love most about my daughter is she has a big heart.
I am Jane Doe.
I would say to my 12-year-old self,
"Don't settle for less because you're a whole lot more than that.
I promise you."
[woman] She just had a real spice for life.
Even with her being as broken as she is, she shares so much love.
I am Jane Doe.
[Kubiiki] She doesn't have to let what has happened in her past hold her back.
[Jane's mother] I want my daughter to hold her head high,
and know that none of this was her fault.
[man] Mothers are changing this more than anything.
[woman] It's time for us all to stand up and be strong.
[man] They're rescuing their kids, taking to the streets.
They're taking these cases to court.
[woman] This is often where the real movements start.
[woman] And that's the only way to make change,
is to make your voice known.
I am Jane Doe.
[woman] If I can talk to the other Jane Does in this case,
I would tell them, don't give up the fight.
They're paving the way for others.
[woman] I just don't want it to happen to my sisters,
or your kids, or the next kid.
[John] I would say to the Jane Does, you are giving voice to literally...
I don't know how many thousands, I don't know how many.
I am Jane Doe.
I'm a sex trafficking survivor.
I am Jane Doe.
[M.A.] I am smart, I am beautiful.
I'm strong, snappy, loving.
I am a survivor.
I am Jane Doe.