[Linda Smith, Shared Hope International]
Today, in the presence of survivors and advocates the President signed into law H.R. 1865, the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (also known as FOSTA/SESTA)!
With the President’s signing of H.R. 1865, anti-trafficking advocates and survivors of sex trafficking and their families celebrate this long awaited progress in the effort to combat online sex trafficking.
Today’s bill signing comes days after federal agencies seized Backpage.com—a website that the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations reported is knowingly facilitating child sex trafficking—and charged seven Backpage executives in a 93-count indictment.
With FOSTA-SESTA signed into law, state prosecutors can prevent similar websites from taking over Backpage’s market share and courtroom doors have been opened to trafficking survivors who seek to hold exploitative websites civilly liable. These concurrent efforts by federal law enforcement, Congress and the President are drastically changing the landscape that, until now, has allowed the sex trafficking industry to thrive. Read our full statement here.
