The backpage.com story is a more complicated than just illegal posting on their website. An investigation found the employees at backpack actually removed descriptive words like young, teenage and rape from classified ads. This was done automatically and sometimes manually. So there's liability there if employees were told to cover up these illegal activities. Probably why they arrested the CEO but a month later a judge in California dropped the charges. Almost like they didn't want this to go to trial.
wow that's crazy. My guess is that they were complicit in what was going on from the coverage I have been seeing. If they get jailed for this, I wouldn't be sad. I still think that due process needs to be followed or else innocent people will be the victim of these practices moving forward.
From what I heard, the indictments were sealed and the trial was closed to the public. Why is that permitted? Seems odd that people can be tried and the entire trial and the charges can be hidden from the public eye.