How the Feds Destroyed Backpage.com and Its Founders
By prosecuting the website's founders, the government chilled free speech online and ruined lives.
Backpage
Watch Now: Classified: The War on Backpage.com
Reason's new documentary is now streaming on the video platform CiVL. I hope you'll watch.
Reason's New Documentary on Backpage.com Is Streaming Exclusively on CiVL
The film ties together years of reporting on a legal saga with broad implications for both free speech and sex work.
Backpage's Michael Lacey Gets 5-Year Sentence
Plus: New York authorities set seized weed on fire, Pavel Durov charged by French authorities, and more...
Feds Seek 20-Year Sentence for Backpage Co-Founder Michael Lacey
It's an insane ask for someone convicted of just one nonviolent offense.
Reason Is a Finalist for 14 Southern California Journalism Awards
Nominated stories include journalism on messy nutrition research, pickleball, government theft, homelessness, and more.
Backpage: A Blueprint for Squelching Speech
How the Backpage prosecution helped create a playbook for suppressing online speech, debanking disfavored groups, and using "conspiracy" charges to imprison the government's targets
Judge Acquits Backpage Co-Founder Michael Lacey on Most Counts
The court found insufficient evidence to sustain 53 of 84 remaining counts against Lacey.
Feds Will Try Backpage Co-Founder Michael Lacey for a Third Time
It's a frightening reminder of how far the government will go to get their way—and to warn tech companies against platforming speech it doesn't like.
The Backpage Defendants Never Stood a Chance
Moral panic plus government power is an inescapably potent combination.
The World's First Libertarian President
Plus: A listener asks the editors about libertarians and "reflexive contrarianism."
Backpage: The Monumental Free Speech Case the Media Ignored
The mere act of publishing sex ads online is enough to send most potential free speech allies scurrying for the exits.
Why Kamala Harris Won't Be Asked About the Suicide of a Newspaperman She Persecuted
When it comes to conflicts with people engaged in unpopular or disfavored speech, too many journalists side with the feds.
Have We Lost Track of the Trump Indictments Yet?
Plus: Why don't journalists support free speech anymore?
Backpage Founder, Alt-Weekly Entrepreneur, and Free Speech Warrior James Larkin Has Died
Larkin, 74, took his own life on Monday, just a little over a week before he was slated to stand trial for his role in running the web-classifieds platform Backpage.
Prosecutors Say Backpage Defendants Shouldn't Be Allowed To Reference the 1st Amendment
Prosecutors also want a judge to take basically all possible defenses off the table.
5 Years After the Backpage Shutdown, Sex Workers—and Free Speech—Are Still Suffering
As former Backpage execs await their August trial, the shutdown is still worsening the lives it was supposed to improve.
Retrial of Backpage Execs Wouldn't Be Double Jeopardy, Court Says
Former Backpage executives could now face trial again in 2023, after the government's first attempt resulted in a mistrial.
The Sex-Ad Law FOSTA Was a Mistake. Some Lawmakers Want to Fix It.
The SAFE SEX Workers Study Act would look at the impact of FOSTA and the seizure of sites like Backpage and Rentboy.
Maggy Krell Repackages Her Bogus Backpage Prosecution Into a Book
The pimping charges Krell helped bring against Backpage's CEO and founders were twice thrown out of court.
The Collapsing Federal Prostitution Case Against Backpage.com
Federal Judge Susan Brnovich was recently forced to declare a mistrial, which was a bad sign for the prosecution.
Biased Testimony in Backpage Case Triggers Mistrial
Judge said she has concerns that the government crossed the line several times.
Backpage Defense Lawyers Call for Mistrial After 'Inflammatory' Opening Statements
The defendants are not on trial for child sex trafficking, yet prosecutor Reggie Jones wouldn't stop talking about it.
FOSTA's Failure: The 2018 Sex Trafficking Law Has Been Worse Than Useless So Far
The only thing FOSTA has done is chill speech and make catching sex traffickers more difficult.
Backpage Judge Accused of Bias Will Remain on Case
Plus: Effort to decriminalize psychedelics gains traction in California, crony capitalism at its worst, and more...
Visa and Mastercard Submit to Politicians Trying To Put the Squeeze on Pornhub
Neither company will accept charges for Pornhub purchases going forward.
Judge Whose A.G. Spouse Bashes Backpage Won't Recuse Herself From Backpage Trial
Judge Susan Brnovich said no reasonable person would question her impartiality just because her husband already says they're guilty.
Judge Poised to Reject Suit by 90 'Jane Does' Who Say Salesforce Is Responsible for Sex Trafficking
The cases hinges on two laws—FOSTA and Section 230—that have been hotly contested in recent years.
Politicians Want to Destroy Section 230, the Internet's First Amendment
Four myths about the law that made the modern internet possible.
Elizabeth Nolan Brown Talks About the Secret Backpage Memos and What They Mean for Free Speech Online
Politicians accused the site of victimizing women and children. A federal investigation found otherwise.
Secret Memos Show the Government Has Been Lying About Backpage All Along
Sealed memos fought over in federal court last week show authorities have known for years that claims about Backpage were bogus.
Ashton Kutcher Helped Promote a Bogus Sex Trafficking Claim. Will We Ever Shake It?
The claim that 100,000 to 300,000 underage people were being sex trafficked in the United States was used in effort to destroy Backpage.com's founders.
Backpage Prosecutors Want to Seize Assets First, Answer Questions Later
Aggressive asset forfeiture collides with First Amendment rights.
The War on Backpage.com Is a War on Sex Workers
The government's latest moral crusade shields traffickers, empowers pimps, and undermines free speech online.
Kamala Harris Won't Denounce Federal Law That Harms Sex Workers, but May Support Decriminalizing Prostitution
"I think that we have to understand though that it is not as simple as that."
How the Feds Are Using Civil Asset Forfeiture to Threaten Free Speech
Sex, publishing, and quasi-legal theft collide in the Backpage prosecution.
Kamala Harris Hopes You'll Forget Her Record as a Drug Warrior and Draconian Prosecutor
The senator and presidential hopeful went to bat for dirty prosecutors, opposed marijuana legalization, and championed policies that endanger sex workers.
The Backpage Scandal Isn't What You Think
How indie media entrepreneurs James Larkin and Michael Lacey became the targets of a federal witchhunt.
No, Feds Can't Force Backpage Founders to Give Up Longtime Lawyers, Rules Judge
The ruling is a major win for Backpage founders James Larkin and Michael Lacey, as well as a strike against government overreach.
Why the Press Conflates Prostitution with Sex Trafficking—and Why That's a Threat To Free Speech: Podcast
Elizabeth Nolan Brown exposes the flimsy case against the alt-weekly pioneers accused of facilitating sex trafficking through Backpage.com.
The Senate Accused Them of Selling Kids for Sex. The FBI Raided Their Homes. Backpage.com's Founders Speak for the First Time.
An inside look at how indie media veterans James Larkin and Michael Lacey became the targets of a federal witchhunt.
Surprise! The Ban on Digital Sex Ads Didn't Work
Plus: digital privacy concerns down 11 percent since 2015
Backpage Plea to Texas Sex Trafficking Charge Turns On CEO's Admission to Brokering Adult Prostitution
Backpage CEO Carl Ferrer turned over the company and seven other executives in exchange for leniency.
Backpage Founder's 93 Charges Lack Actual Sex-Trafficking Claims
Indictment reveals money-laundering, conspiracy charges, and a tricky federal law known as the Travel Act.
Feds Seize Control of Backpage.com; Founder Faces 93-Count Indictment
Site had long been a target for sex work and sex trafficking advertisements.
New Backpage Ruling Lays Bare Some of the Lies Undergirding FOSTA
The ruling allows a civil suit against Backpage to proceed for one of the case's three plaintiffs.
House Passes 'Anti Sex-Trafficking' Bill Opposed by Both DOJ and Trafficking Survivors
The bill makes "promoting prostitution" a federal crime, holds websites legally liable for user-posted content, and lets states retroactively prosecute offenders.
