No. Backpage, in its dealings with law enforcement, operated as a model of cooperation, transparency, and proactive outreach in these matters, and received plau

No. Backpage, in its dealings with law enforcement, operated as a model of cooperation, transparency, and proactive outreach in these matters, and received plaudits from multiple law enforcement agencies for this. Its availability also made it more difficult for pimps and organized crime to monopolize the trade in a region, as they exploited or even trafficked women. When it was shut down and seized and its founders prosecuted, it was a win for the DoJ PR department and for dangerous sex traffickers, and a loss for the rest of the world. I’m morally against all of this myself in principle, but you can’t just endorse prohibition without considering the consequences: even if all this is bad you can’t just say “this is bad!!” as an excuse for making it significantly worse as you lie to the public and slander the operators.