State attorneys are once again pressuring Craigslist over prostitution, requesting that the San Francisco-based company immediately take down the adult services section of its websites.

Spurred in part by a CNN report (YouTube) in which a child advocate dubbed the ubiquitous classified ad website "the Wal-Mart of child sex trafficking," the attorney generals of 17 states sent Craigslist an August 24 letter asking for "immediate action to end the misery for the women and children who may be exploited and victimized by these ads."

The letter also cites the case of two girls, who identified themselves only as MC and AK, who say they were trafficked for sex through Craigslist; the girls' open letter appeared earlier this month in ads taken out in The Washington Post and the San Francisco Chronicle.

Self-policing efforts by Craigslist have failed to reduce obvious ads for prostitution in the adult services section, the state attorneys state.

The online classified ad company wrote a blog post August 18 touting its manual review process of adult services ads, stating that more than 700,000 such ads have been rejected from May 2009 to May 2010. The company also wrote an earlier response to MC and AK, asking that "you or the advocacy groups who placed the ads please let us know where the police reports were filed?" and requesting that responses be sent to legal [at]craigslist.org.

"Craigslist is one of the few bright spots and success stories in the critical fight against trafficking and child exploitation," the blog post states.

State attorney pressure against Craigslist is nothing new. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, at the head of a 39-state coalition, subpoenaed the company in May for documents relating to "the craigslist brothel business " (as he put it).

At the time, Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster accused Blumenthal of "once again indulging in self-serving publicity at the expense of the truth and his constituents."

Political pressure had in 2009 succeeded in compelling Craigslist to take down its "erotic services" section and institute the manual review process of ads in the new adult services section. Nonetheless, a cursory look at Craigslist shows that pictures of scantily-clad women offering various types of relaxing massages are prevalent on the site.

The site also entered into an agreement in 2008 with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and the attorneys general of 40 states to clamp down on illegal activity on the site.

The 17 attorneys general who signed the letter are from Arkansas, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.

For more:
- download the letter from 17 state attorneys (.pdf)
- watch the CNN report on prostitution on Craigslist

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