Rep. Poe on DOJ/FBI Seizure of Backpage.com

I released the following statement regarding the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation announcement regarding the seizure of Backpage.com.

For years, websites like Backpage.com have offered a free platform to post ads for commercial sex. These ads are accessible to countless criminals instantaneously. Even after Backpage shuttered the “adult content” portion of its website, ads for sexual encounters with underage and trafficked victims still existed.

As of today, Backpage.com and its affiliated websites have been seized by the Department of Justice and FBI. While there is still much more work to be done, Backpage’s closure will save hundreds of young women and children from the hands of dastardly, deviant child sex traffickers. Victims of human trafficking will no longer be able to be sold on the number one digital marketplace of modern-day slavery.