Moral Panic
Operation Cross Country X: Everything You Need to Know About the FBI's Annual 'Underage Human Trafficking' Sting In One Chart
Sex workers and their customers made up 72 percent of arrests in this "underage human trafficking" operation. Human traffickers? One percent.
Clown Madness: Cops, Schools, and Media on Edge
A cop suggests putting "a cap in the first clown you see," a reporter asks if police "should keep track of sales of clown costumes," and more.
Friday A/V Club: A Short History of Phantom Clowns
This isn't our first freakout about imaginary Bozos.
Cop Issues Warning: 'If You Run Around in a Clown Suit, You Should Probably Expect for Citizens to Beat You'
Professional clowns fear profiling, vigilantes.
The Clown Panic Comes to College
Auburn University has issued a public-safety bulletin about the clown menace. Read it here.
Courage House Claimed to Save Sex-Trafficked Girls. Instead, It Used Them As Funding Bait While Playing Evangelical Christian Missionary
Courage House received about $9,100 in government support per month per girl it took in.
Pamela Anderson Warns That 'The Crack Babies of Porn' Are Nigh
In the Wall Street Journal, the ex-Playboy model blames online-porn for Anthony Weiner's texting troubles & kids propelled "warp-speed into the dark side."
Can Creepy Clowns Be Stopped?
A brief recap of maudlin (and often imaginary) clowns haunting U.S. towns recently-and why police can't stop them.
Friday A/V Club: The First Pokémon Panic
You don't need augmented reality to get people worked up about Pokémon.
NYC Councilman Completely Fabricates Child Sex-Trafficking Ring
Fourteen "attractive girls" have gone missing from the Bronx since July 2014, said Councilman Andy King, and he suspects the worst. There's just one problem...
Friday A/V Club: Pink Pistols, Bill O'Reilly, and the Lesbian Gang Menace
Cable news at its cable-newsiest
Friday A/V Club: The Terrible Things That Can Happen When a Pop Act Makes a Movie
An artifact of the last great rock panic
Social Cons Boycott Target for Complying with Transgender Law Pushed by Social Cons
The retailer is doing exactly what supporters of N.C.'s HB2 said they should do. Why are folks upset?
Friday A/V Club: A Sermon, a Song, a Murder, and a Media Hoax
In Memoriam: Richard Lyons of Negativland
Utah Governor Signs Resolution Declaring Porn a 'Public Health Crisis'
Drafted by the group formerly known as Morality in Media, the measure was passed unanimously by Utah lawmakers.
The Biggest Sex-Trafficking Bust in FBI History Was Totally Bogus
How two troubled teens and a cop with a cause got dozens of Somali immigrants on the hook for child sex trafficking.
Human Trafficking Is the New 'Crack-Cocaine Epidemic,' Says California Lawmaker
He's right, but not for the reasons he thinks.
Texas Mom's Paranoid Rant Spawns Viral Sex-Trafficking Rumor
"I've heard this is happening at Target, Walmart & Kmart; often in the mornings/before lunch."
How Maryland 'Neomasculinity' Blogger Roosh V Became an International 'Pro-Rape' Villain
A case study of collective catharsis through call-out culture and moral panic as meme.
Another Asian Air Traveler Detained Over Suspicions She's Being Sex Trafficked
"Flight Attendants and airline employees will be the 'boots in the air' fighting human trafficking," say federal officials.
Bizarre Baby-Selling Story Spawns More Human-Trafficking Hysteria
There's no such thing as a free baby. But human-trafficking hysteria? We've got that in abundance, thanks.
Friday A/V Club: Hillary vs. Superpredator
The 1990s saw a wave of weird warnings about a coming crime surge to be led by inhuman "superpredators." Guess who joined in?
Friday A/V Club: You Are Watching LSD-TV
There was a time when psychedelics could get friendly coverage on a commercial TV news show.
Chemsex Panic: British Media Alleges Drug-Fueled Orgies Are Driving Up HIV Rates
Are you ready for this? People are taking drugs and then having sex.
Will Houston's Nondiscrimination Law Be Decided by Transgender Bathroom Panic?
Today's vote a barometer on current public attitudes on LGBT issues.
Morals Group Plans Worldwide Protest Against Human Rights
Amnesty International offices around the world to be targeted this month in protest of AI's support for decriminalizing sex work.
The War on Sex Trafficking Is the New War on Drugs
And the results will be just as disastrous, for "perpetrators" and "victims" alike.
Are Violent Video Games Digital Poison?
The American Psychological Association thinks so.
Campaign Against Sex Robots Launches, Because Some People Will Panic About Anything
Two brave researchers tackle the imaginary menace of robot prostitution.
Indiana AG Seeks Mandatory Jail Time for Johns
"Jail time should be understood" for those caught soliciting prostitution says Indiana AG Greg Zoeller.
4 Places Other Than Dadeville, Alabama, That Have Tried to Ban Miniskirts
Spoiler alert: it generally does not go so well.
'Remarks About Physical Appearance' Considered 'Sexual Violence' in Rutgers Student Survey
New study on campus sexual assault suffers same problems that plague so much research on this issue.
Nicholas Kristof Applauds Extralegal Harassment of Backpage.com Because 'Adult' Services Sometimes Involve Minors
The columnist thinks you should go out of business if some of your customers are criminals.
Anti-Porn Summit on Capitol Hill Mixes Moralist, Feminist, and Public Health Rhetoric With Insane Results
Everything old is new again!
Flakka 'Turns People Into Zombies,' Just Like Krokodil and Jenkem
Flakka-fortified humans reportedly are stronger than Vulcans.
Did You Hear About the Sex Traffickers Abducting Grown Women From Hobby Lobby?
The police "said that this is a common thing," stated the Facebook post gone viral. And yet...
The Misguided War on Sexting
America is taking a punitive approach to teens who send each other explicit messages-and it's backfiring.
High School Superintendent: Teen Sexting Is a Police Matter
Two teens send nude selfies. Police spend several weeks, interview 25 students to "investigate."
Friday A/V Club: Ice-T's Guide to Sexual Subcultures
When the down-low panic came to Law and Order: SVU
Florida Tries to Make Teen Sexting a Crime, Actually Makes Teen Sexting Impossible to Prosecute
I think a "LOL" is appropriate here.
