California judge dismisses sex exploitation charge against online ad service Backpage.com

California Attorney General Kamala Harris was on the losing side in her attempts to prosecute Backpage.com executives for publishing ads for prostitution. Harris charged that the executives were engaged in pimping. In rejecting the charges, Superior Court Judge Michael Bowman cited federal law, Section 230 of the 1996 Communication Decency Act, that established that online publishers are not responsible for publishing third party speech. (techdirt, December 12, 2016, by Tim Cushing)

Harris was concerned that Backpage made millions by running sex trade ads which in some cases involved children. Harris who has been elected to the U.S. Senate promised to find other ways to hold the executive accountable. (BBC News, December 13, 2016)