Human Trafficking Grant Goes to Arrest Suspected Victims in Tucson
A Tucson Weekly investigation finds that federal funds to "fight sex trafficking" are actually perpetuating it.
Sex Trafficking
Facebook Supported 'Sex Trafficking' Law FOSTA to Cozy Up to Republican Critics: Reason Roundup
Plus: Trump endorses sentencing reform and Bitcoin's value continues to fall.
The Backpage Scandal Isn't What You Think
How indie media entrepreneurs James Larkin and Michael Lacey became the targets of a federal witchhunt.
Anti-Porn Republicans Haven't Gone Anywhere
The porn wars haven't died, they're just packaged differently.
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.
This Is How Sex-Trafficking Panic Gets Made
Plus: fight against FOSTA continues and Tennessee trooper reports Democrat for visiting falafel restaurant.
Can DHS Shoot Down Citizen Drones? House Votes Today: Reason Roundup
Plus: why Gary Johnson will be good for the Senate, "toxic culture" at the TSA, the dismissal of an anti-FOSTA lawsuit, and a new economic freedom index.
House to Vote on 'Human Trafficking' Bill That Strengthens PATRIOT Act Spying
The PATRIOT Act fell out of fashion-but swap "human trafficker" for "terrorist" and let the civil liberties infringements roll!
Houston, We've Got a Problem—with Robot Brothels?
Activists petition to stop a sex-doll shop.
Sex Trafficking in San Diego Massage Parlors Blamed on U.S. Military
But the real problem here isn't human-trafficking troops, it's regulators raising crime panic.
'National Sex Trafficking Crackdown' Nets Zero Sex Traffickers
Plus: Another one of NYU professor Avital Ronell's teaching assistants talks, and Tucker Carlson goes after Amazon.
Elizabeth Nolan Brown Talks About Her Blockbuster Backpage Story on Sirius XM
Matt Welch interviews Brown (and others, including ex-Reasoner Lauren Krisai) from 9-12 ET.
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
Jinx the Anarchist Sex Worker Goes to Washington
Representatives of the oldest profession were on Capitol Hill fighting FOSTA and SESTA, with our online freedoms hanging in the balance.
Trump Is Using the Border Crisis to Stoke Human Trafficking Hysteria
Misleading claims about people smuggling serve only to justify the government's already bloated surveillance and law enforcement powers.
Human Trafficking Court in Delaware Shuts Down for Lack of Human-Trafficking Victims
The Delaware Criminal Justice Council found it difficult to "justify the resources that have been expend on so few" participants with such a "low rate of success."
The Sex Trafficking Charges Against Smallville Actress Allison Mack Are Totally Bogus
The federal charges against Mack highlight how human trafficking hysteria harms vulnerable women.
Pardon Jack Johnson
The White Slavery Panic of the late 19th/early 20th centuries caused Congress to pass the vaguely-worded Mann Act. It allowed the FBI and prosecutors broad discretion to go after individuals they didn't like.
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.
Newspapers Care Much More About Bashing Sinclair Than Criticizing an Unconstitutional Attack on Free Speech
5 editorials call for the federal government to thwart Sinclair's expansion efforts in wake of creepy promo video; meanwhile you can count the number of anti-FOSTA eds on one finger
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.
A Dark and Stormy Week for Free Speech: Podcast
While America gawks at tales of consensual Trump-spanking, Internet freedom is coming under legislative and cultural attack
Hours After FOSTA Passes, Reddit Bans 'Escorts' and 'SugarDaddy' Communities
The great content crackdown has begun.
FOSTA Passes Senate, Making Prostitution Ads a Federal Crime Against Objections from DOJ and Trafficking Victims
The measure will "make it harder, not easier, to root out and prosecute sex traffickers," said Sen. Ron Wyden, one of only two senators to vote no on FOSTA.
The Lunacy of Trump's Trade War: Podcast
Reason editors dispute presidential notion that "trade wars are good, and easy to win," and also argue over the Oscars.
$20 Fee for Porn Access Proposed in Rhode Island
Device makers would be required to block porn, prostitution hubs, and all content that fails "current standards of decency."
Florida Lawmaker Drops Proposal to Let Victims of Sex Trafficking Sue Hotels
Disney allegedly lobbied against the bill behind the scenes.
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.
'Keep Your Tyranny Off Our Titties,' Say New Orleans Strippers
In a series of protests, strip club workers and their allies are pushing back against abusive policing.
Super Bowl Sex Trafficking Myth Gives Good Cover for Federal Security Theater
Minneapolis is being transformed into a police state.
Texas Cops Charge 'Child Sex Trafficking Victim' With Felony
They also arrested her younger friend for prostitution.
The Phony Feminism of Kamala Harris
Harris only cares about other women's rights when those rights don't conflict with her career ambitions.
The 10 Worst Helicopter Parenting Moments of 2017
It isn't just parents. Cops, schools, reporters, bureaucrats and busybodies got in on the action this year.
The Best Sex Work Writing of 2017
We rounded up the year's best writing, reporting, and research on erotic industries, those who work in them, and how they're getting screwed by U.S. authorities and laws.
Prostitution Ad Ban Creeps Forward, Threatening Social Media and Sex Workers
The bill would gut Section 230 and make sex advertising a federal crime.
Posting or Hosting Sex Ads Could Mean 25 Years in Federal Prison Under New Republican Proposal
A related measure would open digital platforms to liability for past crimes committed by users.
Tampa Bathhouses Become Latest Target of Sex-Trafficking Panic
The city council is considering a mammoth package of new rules that threaten Tampa bathhouses and those who visit them.
Harvey Weinstein Sued for Sex Trafficking by British Actress Kadian Noble
Weinstein Company staff aided in the trafficking by arranging auditions for young female actors "using the code FOH"-for "Friend of Harvey"-the suit states.
Stossel: Who Owns Your Body?
John Stossel confronts a prostitute, a pimp and an anti-prostitution crusader.
Feds Keeping Homeland Secure with Fake Sex-Trafficking Busts
As America deals with terrorist attacks and mass shootings, DHS and the FBI are busy enforcing misdemeanor vice laws.
Feds Crack Down on New National Security Threat: Unlicensed Massages
Massage-parlor panic is crushing small businesses, civil liberties, and people's lives. Here are eight examples from October.
Senate Could Make It Easy for FBI to Spy on Teen Sexters, Black Lives Matter, and Other U.S. 'Criminals'
FISA reauthorization would majorly expand use of warrantless digital surveillance data against Americans.
