Yesterday the House of Representatives passed the controversial “Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act” (FOSTA.) This is a bill that gives far reaching powers to federal authorities in the effort to combat human trafficking.
This bill, potentially, makes the posting of, replying to, and payin for commercial sex services a federal crime.
That’s a big deal. It also targets websites where providers and hobbyists post and respond to ads for sessions and services. How this is different from pornographic actors and actresses being hired for “gigs” is an different conversation .
Now, I will say this is only the House bill, the Senate will get a chance to debate and vote on this as well. But it is alarming to privacy advocates and folks who have read Article 1, Sec 9 of the Constitution that prohibits prosecuting crimes for actions that occurred prior to the passage of this bill. It will likely, if passed, have significant impact on numerous aspects of the hobbying industry.
Read more about it here:
http://www.reason.com/blog/2018/02/28/fosta/amp
If this gets through the Senate as is it will go to President Trump (who appears to have used providers himself) for signature. I’m not sure it makes it out of the Senate. There are serious concerns about the Constitutionality.
However, just in case it does, sites like ECCIE could be directly targeted. So just wanted to pass this along for your awareness and discussion. Illegal human trafficking of underage and unwilling people is wrong. However, this bill (as it stands) reaches beyond sensible solutions to address and makes concensual acts between free adults a federal crime. That’s a terrible thing.
What day you all?