The parent company of the SF Weekly is being sued by a teenager who claims the company abetted sex trafficking on its classified ads website Backpage.com, the New York Daily News reports.
The teen’s lawsuit claims her pimp, who has pleaded guilty to prostitution charges, posted photos of the girl when she was 14 on Village Voice Media’s Backpage.com. Backpage.com is a national site used by all of Village Voice Media’s publications including the SF Weekly.
Village Voice Media is receiving pressure from 21 state attorneys general to close its adult-services section of Backpage.com. The effort is being led by Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.
Similar pressure was placed on Craigslist earlier this month to shut down its adult-services section. The online classified-advertising Web site voluntarily agreed to close its erotic services section after similar pressure.