Nova Southeastern University
Wayne Huizenga Graduate School of Business & Entrepreneurship

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Table of Contents
Introduction……………………………………………………………………………pg. 3
Legal Section………………….……………………………………………………....pg. 5
Relevant Legal Principles…………………………………………..................pg. 6 Application of Law …………………………………………….….………….pg. 7
Legal Conclusion………...…….……………………………….……..............pg. 8 Ethic Section……………………………………...……………………….…………..pg. 8
Utilitarian Ethical Analysis……………………………………………………pg. 8
Kantian Ethical Analysis……………………………….………….................pg. 12 Machiavellian Virtues………………………………………………………..pg. 14 Introduction………………………………………………………………pg. 14 Ethical Theory & Analytical Analysis…………………………………...pg. 15 Conclusion………………………………………………..………….......pg. 17
Social Responsibility……………..………………………………………………….pg. 18 Introduction……………………………………..…………………………...pg. 18 Definition of Terms…………………….……………………………………pg. 18 Application of Principles…………….………………………………………pg. 19 Social Responsibility Recommendations…………………………………….pg. 21
Social Responsibility Conclusion…………………………………………....pg. 24
Conclusion…………………………...………………………………………………pg. 24
References…………………………………………………………………………….pg.26

Introduction

Company Overview

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In 1996, Craig Newmark, while working as a computer programmer in San Francisco, noticed people from other programming firms began posting social events on the Internet. Craigslist originally started as a hobby for Craig so that he could post about local social events for his friends, but soon afterwards, people began to post their own social events on the forum. After a few months, and because the forum was unmonitored, Craig began to notice some interesting forum activity.
What was this new trend that invited Craig to expand his hobby? There were job postings for positions in and around San Francisco. Remember this is before Monster.com and Jobs.com, because this single action revolutionized how the San Francisco market searched and recruited for new talent. This unique forum also provided job seekers with a place to post their resumes in search of the next dot COM giant. However, in the beginning it only provided day to day laborers an opportunity for contingent positions. At the heart of Craigslist’s “nerd values”, then, is the duo’s refusal to maximize profits (Goodwin, 2008) |
Due to the great success in the San Francisco market, Craig decided to expand into nine other markets which included: New York City, Los Angeles, San Diego, Boston, Seattle, Washington D.C., Chicago, Philadelphia, Orange County (California) and Portland, Oregon. He was able to fund this expansion by charging a $25.00 job-posting fee in only four of the above markets. Moreover, since its inception over 3,360 billion people have viewed and or used his or her services.
Since Craigslist is a privately held enterprise, they are not required to disclose any financial information, but an estimate from 2007 has them exceeding 250 million dollars in revenue. The three primary principles of Craigslist are Jim Buckmaster, EBay (25%) and Craig Newmark.
Over its 14 years of operation, the general website layout and feel has changed very little. Many have described it as taking a trip back into the past, before the times of Amazon and EBay. The layout of the website has stayed the same with only a few small additions, such as back ground color and link layout changes. This general sensibility has allowed Craigslist to keep costs down, and minimized the size of the overall organization, currently noted at 20 associates. The only changes Craigslist have made are due to public outcry; for example, requiring an acknowledgement of your age before entering the adult finder section of the site, a disclaimer section, and most notably a flagging system that allows other users to notify craigslist of illegal or potentially dangerous trends. For a man whose contribution to society consists of series of no-frills classified advertising websites (Goodwin, 2008) |
In 2001, Craig decided it was time to pass the daily operations to someone else. Jim Buckmaster, originally on his way to becoming a doctor, decided that the World Wide Web and computer programming was a better fit for him. In 1999, Jim moved to San Francisco and posted his resume on Craigslist. While reviewing the posting, Craig decided to hire him as a programmer. However, computer programming was not Jim’s calling, because one year later Craig promoted Jim to President and CEO of Craigslist. Jim has been described as, “Possibly the only CEO ever described as anti-establishment, a communist, and a socialistic anarchist” (WSJ, 2009). During Jim’s reign, he has contributed, “Craigslist’s homepage design, multi-city architecture, discussion forums, search engine, community moderation system, self-posting process, personals categories (including missed connections), and best of craigslist” (WSJ, 2009).
Unfortunately, it has not always been blue skies at Craigslist. During the last few years they have been plagued by controversy such as a law suit against a principle holder for potential insider fraud, a killer who used craigslist to find his victims, and most recently the potential censorship of the adult services section by several State Attorney Generals for enlisting sex (Prostitution) over the internet.
Throughout the paper we will be discussing whether or not Craigslist reacted in a legal, ethical and social responsible manner towards the requests of the Federal and State Attorney Generals to remove certain content from their website. This will be the first time a social networking site or open forum site has been requested to remove certain site links from their main page.
Legal Section
Introduction
In determining whether or not Craigslist’s CEO, Jim Buckmaster, responded appropriately to the legal threats of various Attorney Generals, it is important to give a quick summary of the actions that led to the most recent actions in September, 2010 where Buckmaster made the decision to remove all “Adult Services” and “Erotic Services” links from the Craigslist website. The controversy of the Craigslist website heated up in 2009 when South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster called the category a "vehicle" for soliciting prostitution. McMaster demanded its removal, saying his office would pursue "criminal investigation and prosecution" against Craigslist executives if they failed to comply (Raphael, 2009). Buckmaster complied with the Attorney General’s demands and changed the link name from “Erotic Services” to “Adult Services;” however, in August 2010 Craigslist was under fire again and this time from 17 state Attorney General’s asking the company to remove the “Adult Services” link. Buckmaster complied with the demands and replaced the link with the word “censored” to avoid additional threats and negative media linking the site with prostitution, child trafficking, and potential violence against women (Temple, 2010). Less than one week later the “censored” link was removed and has not been replaced with any alternate name to link viewers to any type of adult or erotic services.
Relevant Legal Principles
The primary legal principles that apply to this case are the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the Communications Decency Act, and The First Amendment – Freedom of Speech. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act provides limitations on service provider liability for storage, at the direction of a user, of copyrighted material residing on a system or network controlled or operated by or for the service provider, if, among other things, the service provider has designated an agent to receive notifications of claimed infringement by providing contact information to the Copyright Office and by posting such information on the service provider’s website in a location accessible to the public (http://www.copyright.gov/onlinesp/). Cavico and Mujtaba define the Communications Decency Act of 1996 as “the provider as well as the user of an ‘interactive’ computer service shall not be liable as a publisher or speaker for information provided by another content supplier. Moreover, courts have ruled that even when an ISP becomes aware of the defamatory statements on its online system but fails to promptly remove them, the ISP is still not legally liable” (Cavico & Mujtaba, 2008 ). The First Amendment obviously provides for protection of freedom of speech and expression as transmission of information regardless of the medium utilized.
Application of Law and Legal Analysis
Craigslist has not been cited as being in any violation of any rules or laws, and more importantly has been provided immunity and protection based on the integrity and scope of the laws listed above. Buckmaster’s decision to comply with the Attorney General’s urging was simply to avoid any potential legal ramifications, cost, and bad publicity. Buckmaster made good faith attempts to comply with the pressure of the attorney’s general demands by increasing the cost of the adult services ads and changed the link titles from “erotic services” to “adult services” to “censored.” Again, no legal actions required this, but Buckmaster was positioning his company to avoid any future liabilities. As Temple states in his SFGate.com article “The Digital Millennium Copyright Act and Communications Decency Act generally protect online publishers from the illegal actions of third parties on their sites, particularly in regard to matters like copyright and defamation. But there are narrow exceptions in the latter law when it comes to criminal statutes. The Attorney General’s would probably use this window to pursue a criminal case, charging Craigslist with aiding and abetting illegal activity. Any legislative push, meanwhile, would be likely to seek to more specifically define those exceptions” (Temple, 2010).
On the flip side, there were critics who argued that Buckmaster was giving up too easily and that he was setting precedence against internet regulation and compromising freedom of speech. "If you impose liability on Craigslist, YouTube and Facebook for anything their users do, then they're not going to take chances," said Brian Carver, an attorney and assistant professor at the school of information at UC Berkeley. "It would likely result in the takedown of what might otherwise be perfectly legitimate free expression” (Temple, 2010).
Conclusion
Buckmaster made the appropriate decision and acted in the best interest of his company and the public to remove the adult services postings. Although he may still receive criticism that he is setting precedence for other online service providers, he is making the decision from a legal, ethical, and socially responsible perspective to avoid any further scrutiny that his company is facilitating online prostitution, child trafficking, and violence against women. The next section will explore the ethical dynamics and evaluate Buckmaster’s moral obligations.
Ethics Section
Utilitarian Ethical Analysis
Throughout the evolution of time, there has been a change in the way we do things or advertise and expose ourselves to the public. No longer are things done behind closed doors, they are now exposed to the public as well as people all across the globe. With the recent ability to add anything to a networking site, it still can be proven that with enough public influence things can still be changed by the general public if it has enough humanly concern. Utilitarianism “seeks to give to ethics a precise content that can be defined concretely, measure scientifically, and determined objectively” (Cavico & Mujtaba, 2009). It “may justify actions that are contrary to many people’s feelings, intuitions, or moral beliefs” (Cavico & Mujtaba, 2009). Utilitarianism can be defined as “an ethical theory that places human beings at the center of morality. It is a universal, impartial, egalitarian theory that stresses the importance and equality of all human beings, not merely one person, group, or class” (Cavico & Mujtaba, 2009). In the case where a privately held company such as Craigslist was asked to remove content from their website, the question one may ask is if it is moral for a particular company or organization to be forced to change their website due to the demands of the government? For this situation the content that was on this website affected a variety of people who ranged from various classes and backgrounds. The affected individuals were all members in good standing with society, and should have been treated with respect (Cavico & Mujtaba, 2009). In any company, making the public aware of your organization and spreading a message for individuals to visit your website would bring about a positive venue for revenue and profits. With the increase of traffic from new users to Craigslist, they were scheduled to bring in $44.4 million from the adult services section in 2010 alone. (Stone, 2010). This would have created a positive effect for the organization and its profits from this area. However with the recent concerns from the public and attorney generals from various states, and the potential losses for online positing fees could have had a detrimental impact towards organizational cash flow. Additional, the site’s hit ratio could potential decrease which would cause further revenue issues. (+4). On the side of the employee’s for Craigslist, one would be delighted to say that they work for a company who is making a profit and giving back to society. However in light of the recent event, if someone asked an employee why they work for Craigslist, or if they have face any backlash from the public. This could potential cause the employee to feel embarrassed or ashamed. (-2). Craigslist appeals to a variety of customers as it “helps people buy and sell used products and find jobs, housing, and companionship on more than 700 local sites around the world” (Stone, 2010). Their customer base is very wide and appeals to a variety of individuals. Despite concerns with a particular section of the site, on a positive side, if a customer is not searching for adult content then they do not risk the possibility of finding any. This will allow the continued use of the site without any problems. However on the other hand, with the nature of how things are posted on the website. As it has been seen in other areas of the various posting sections, people have begun posting various ads to other areas of the site such as personals section. (Silk, 2010). If a customer began searching for one particular item, but came across something that was related to adult content, then this might offend a customer, causing them not to use the posting section again. (-2). The competition for Craigslist are the local newspapers that can be found in various cities across the country and other classified advertising sites such as Village Voice Media. (Anonymous, 2009). This is a place where many individuals can post certain things for sell and have access to them beyond the local borders of their communities own newspaper. Having few competitors online created a positive upper hand for Craigslist due to its national or global appeal and the advanced use of technology. However, it does not help the local newspapers who may be struggling to obtain revenue from the lack of use of classified ads. The easy access for the community of Craigslist still continues to make it one of the most highly used classified advertising sites online. (+4). The society and general use of Craigslist will bring about various concerns from the attention and actually postings of individuals who frequent the site. The individuals, cities and local community will have unwanted attention to what actually may be going on outside of their doors. The pain that will caused has already been shown by the lost of human life between two individuals who met on Craigslist, such as Phillip Markoff who is currently being held without bail “for the hotel murder of a masseuse he met on the nation’s largest classified ad Web site” (Johnson, 2009). The allowance of having a website that has opened a variety of avenues, offers a positive avenue for society and the company itself. However if there is not enough discipline from the company on what can be posted to the site, then the negative aspect would in some regards outweigh the positive ones. Craigslist needs to be willing to be proactive in protecting society against its self. (-3). The individuals or groups that were affected by the actions of Craigslist and their numerical value as an employer (+4), the employees (-2), customers (-2), the competition (+4), and society (-3). The results of the units of pain are (-7) and (+8) for the units of pleasure. Due to the fact that the overall numbers of units of pleasure are greater than the units of pain, it can be found that it would be moral for the government to step in and ask a company to change their web content if the original actions cause more harm to society then leaving the content in its original format. Allowing users to post information to a site that leads to prostitution and sex trafficking is wrong, and potentially adds undue harm on the rest of society. It should be noted that like other social networking sites, Craigslist should add “staff and filtering technology in an effort to monitor their sites, reassure parents, calm advertisers, and position themselves as good corporate citizens” (Stone, 2010).
Kantian Method
Introduction
When determining the validity of a statement or action, one must consider alternative ways of thinking and verifying a particular case. The use of a particular method known as the Categorical Imperative is one of them. “A categorical imperative prescribes certain kinds of actions as objectively and absolutely necessary, without any regard to any end or any particular desire” (Cavico & Mujtaba, 2009). The actions that would be considered under this ethical theory are: Universal Law – if the government should require certain companies to monitor and regulate what third party individuals post on their websites. Use Kingdom of Ends methods – when offering various services online, in order to protect your customers you must keep their inherent value in mind. The final validation would be to use the Agent – Receiver Test. If such an action was imposed would people continue to use the site to post information or retrieve information from it.
Kant’s Ethical Principles The universal law as applied by Kantian would be for government to regulate all social networking sites and enforcing them to monitor for illegal behavior and the act of children trafficking. Websites such as Craigslist allow individuals to post information to their site in order for them to gain something for their actions. During this case it was noted that Craigslist is protected by the Communications Decency Act of 1996. This “federal law that protects Internet service providers from legal actions related to third-party content” (Silk, 2010). However due the existing law, and the number of individuals who use the site, the recent actions for this request could not be carried out universally among multiple social networking sites. If the law is to be applied universally, then it would inhibit them to manage and direct their companies effectively without outside influence. The uses of the Kingdom of Ends methods – when regulating the action or activities of your customer could potential have detrimental decrease in their overall values you have placed towards them. “Craigslist allows people to post classified ads for everything from cars for sale to help wanted to adult services” (Mower, 2009). Craigslist values and respects what their target audience post to their website. However in light of the number of individuals that use this site for posting ads for prostitution or sex trafficking, protecting the members of the post with the knowledge of how their site is being used and the possible outcomes from the site should be something that an organization would be willing to change for the betterment of society.
The agent-receiver test “asks whether a rational person would accept the action or rule regardless of whether he or she was the agent (or the giver) of the action, or the receiver of the action or rule” (Cavico & Mujtaba, 2009). During the time when this controversy was going on, and even a few months after the controversy had died down, Craigslist remains a popular website for many users. According to the most popular websites that people visit, Craigslist ranks as number thirty-one among these sites. (Most Popular, 2010). Despite the controversy that has gone on for the organization, the ease of use and variety of items found for an individual’s use, the adult controversy has not affected the ultimate use of the site for the general public. In the application of the Categorical Imperative, “if an action or rule passes all three, it is moral; if it fails one, it is immoral” (Cavico & Mujtaba, 2009). Having the government step in by wanting Craigslist to change a portion of their site violates the Communications Decency Act of 1996 which does not allow for a universal law to be applied. This also does not allow for the Kantian method to pass. Trying to protect a user’s right for an organization with the knowledge of a possible human violation with the goal of making money violates the Kingdom of Ends test as well. However it would seem that people will continue to use the website despite the controversy that Craigslist has been experiencing. Due to the fact that two of the rules failed this test, it would be immoral for the government to impose on an organization’s way of doing business.
Additional Ethical Analysis: Machiavellian Virtues
Introduction
Jim Buckmaster who is described as a “socialist, anarchist, and a communist”, (Dignan, 2006) is a perfect example of a Machiavellian leader. He represents his company with a cold-blooded belief that the purpose of his business is not to foster business through growth, but to act as a beacon against the world of enterprise. With the controversy surrounding Craigslist, he has stood by the position that society needs to stand up and break away from the norm. Jim’s philosophy has been to do a reversal to the pursuit of Machiavellian intentions, but through calculated self-interested decision, Craigslist has been able to revolutionize its power and position. In addition, they have been able to create a new band of loyalists who have further expanded the appeal of Craigslist to the public.
Ethical Theory & Analytical Analysis What are the virtues of a Machiavellian leader? To be a true believer of Machiavellian, one must always be willing to promote their personal self-interest. They must be willing to use any means necessary in their pursuit of power. They have to be willing to develop a cold-blooded strategy that fosters their own political will. They need to be able to manipulate the public and society into believing in what they want. Furthermore, you must believe that people are inherently, “egoistic and selfish, unscrupulous and treacherous, envious and greedy, fearful and cowardly, passionate and irrational, and above all, short-sighted, gullible and stupid” (Cavico & Mujtaba, 2009). Only by believing in the above will one be able to develop a strategy that focuses on their own self-interests. (Cavico & Mujtaba, 2009). What action has Craigslist done to set them apart from the rest of society and how have they developed their Machiavellian virtues? Society believes that the goal of every business is to gain power and wealth through the expansion of enterprise. However, for Craigslist, it has been their firm belief that profits are not everything. They have played on the stupidity of the business world and have fooled them into believing that all businesses should be driving towards excess profits. In 2006, ZDNet did an article on Jim Buckmaster and Craigslist titled “The Delightfully Communist”, in which they noted, “ Confused capitalists wondering how a company can exist without the urge to maximize profits.” (Dignan, 2006) Those astute business people could not understand why Craigslist has expanded their operations to include advertising banner pages. Craigslist has based their decisions on the following mission points, “Give each other a break, restore the human voice to the internet, keep things simple, provide an alternative to impersonal big media sites, be inclusive, a be a collection of communities with a similar spirit and not a single monolithic entity” (Hailey, 2005).
What has Craigslist done during this controversy to manipulate the public and media into affirming their position and advancing their self-interest? In a joint letter sent by the 17 State Attorney Generals stating, “No amount of money...can justify the scourge of illegal prostitution and the suffering of the women and children who will continue to be victimized in the market and trafficking provided by Craigslist"(Matyszczyk, 2010). However, knowing the fact that they only want to expand their current grip on the open forum market and not on maximizing wealth makes this statement by the Attorney Generals is irrelevant. In addition, the Attorney Generals requested the removal of the censored section of the website. Which in turn, Craigslist promptly responded by blackening and making the link bold. When asked why they did this, a senior technology analysis said, “Craigslist probably used the word "censored" because they're trying to make a political statement" (Doane, 2010). Drawing from these two statements why did Craigslist make these decisions and how did it promote their Machiavellianism? Craigslist choose this avenue because it had the highest probability of reaffirming their position for redefining the voice of the Internet. In addition, they have been able to draw attention to the fact that the Internet is a protected entity for society under the Communication Decency Act of 1996. This act is “an absolute shield against state criminal law liability stemming from material posted by third parties. Put simply, the law ensures that the virtual soapbox is not liable for what the speaker says: merely creating a forum in which users post ads that may violate state law plainly does not lead to liability for a web site operator” (Zimmerman, 2010). Additionally they were able to increase their publicist amongst the other non-Craigslist users. This in turn has increased their domestic and international site hit ratio making them the 33rd most viewed site on the Internet.
Additionally, with the increased number of articles and documents focused on controversy, Jim was able to play on the minds of society and the media by targeting their passionate behavior and irrational thinking on the subject. He had them focusing not only on the controversy itself, but also on the potential violation of Craigslist’s first amendment rights. Furthermore, Craigslist attempted to make both the Attorney Generals and the potential criminally minded entities a compromise by charging an application fee via credit card, which would allow for transactional tracking. This pleased the public and the State Attorney Generals, and additionally provided Craigslist with another opportunity to expand their market share. (Albanesisu, 2009).
Conclusion
In conclusion, Craigslist has been able to influence the hearts and minds of society. They have played on our need to show compassion and care towards a subject. They were able to influence the public and the media into thinking their constitutional and statutory rights were being violated. However, in September of 2006, Craigslist announced the removal of the censored link and advocated a new integrated forum review team to monitor potentially illegal postings. Even though Craigslist had to negate on one of their missions, to restore the human voice to the Internet, they have been able to increase their overall self-interest by inviting a new group of loyalists to join their community, and as of September 2010, Craigslist has be noted as being the 33rd most viewed website in the world. (Most Popular, 2010).
Social Responsibility

Introduction

Craigslist transition to a high profile organization came with increased pressure to make difficult moral and socially responsible decisions. Craigslist ethical constructs needed be adapted to maintain pace with a changing online environment. As the amount of Craigslist loyalist’s members grew, so did the scrutiny placed on the content within user postings. The new users were from all walks of life including government officials and human rights protection organizations. The following sections introduce the concept of social responsibility, illustrate how it applies to Craigslist’s decisions, and reveals additional recommendations for Craigslist. Definition of term “Social Responsibility” and formulation of definitional-principle

“The term social responsibility may be defined as taking an active part in the social causes and civic life of one’s community and society” (Cavico & Mujtaba, 2009). Today, many organizations feel obligated to improve the surrounding community by making moral decisions that affect the society as a whole. Traditionally, an organization’s main focus was to maximize profit. However, companies now have the opportunity to gain financially while improving their public image. This is achieved by being held accountable for their contributions to society. Socially responsible acts can be expressed in a variety of forms such as : “…taking care of the poor, educating the people, giving to charities, and funding cultural programs” (Cavico & Mujtaba, 2009). These are all common methods that fulfill a corporation’s social obligation. Occasionally, companies do not always meet their obligation to society thus causing a need for government intervention. Censorship of posted content became a strong avocation from numerous State Attorney Generals. Craigslist also had multiple lawsuits filed against them arguing the legality of the adult services section. Ultimately, the government persuaded Craigslist to become more accountable for the content within their website postings. The section below analyzes the methods in which Craigslist acted in a Socially Responsible manner. Application of Social Responsibility definitional-principle to topic Craigslist’s decision to remove and implement various content auditing methods is viewed as socially responsible. In doing this, Craigslist also improved their public image and “…position(ed) themselves as good corporate citizens” (Stone, 2010). Craigslist even devised a system that generated revenue that is donated to various charities. Though there was some initial pushback from Craigslist and its advocators, the final socially responsible decisions benefited numerous different parties directly and indirectly. Those affected were law officials, non-profit anti-child exploitation and prostitution groups, as well as the victims of the illicit adult services postings. The arguments surrounding Craigslist’s Adult Services link came into the public spotlight when 40 State Attorney Generals and other law officials became involved. In March of 2008, “Craigslist began asking its erotic services advertisers to provide a phone number, which an automated system calls” (Stone, 2008). The user on the other end would hear an alphanumeric code. They would then have to enter the validation code on Craigslist’s website. Users who violated the terms of the adult section on craigslist would have their phone number banned. Without the ability to use the phone verification system, the offenders would no longer be able to create adult oriented posts. In a statement, Craig Newmark said the “Phone verification resulted in an 80% reduction in ad volume, and significantly increased compliance with site guidelines” (Craigslist, 2008). In parallel to the phone system, Craigslist went further and mandated a fee charged to all erotic service posters. A credit card was required to make a small payment ranging from 5 to 10 dollars. Not only did this create a history of user identities for law officials, but it created a new philanthropic initiative for Craigslist. In a statement made by Jim Buckmaster, Craigslist’s CEO, “Requiring credit card verification, and charging a fee to post in (adult services) category raises accountability to a point where we expect few illicit ads will remain” (Craigslist, 2008). In another statement, he said that “(Craigslist, 2008) will donate the money to charities, including those that combat child exploitation and human trafficking” (Stone, 2008). These charitable donations directly fulfilled a social responsibility to those organizations formed to protect child and adult exploitation. The funds donated also indirectly affected persons hurt by the illicit adult services postings. The additional funds available allotted the charities to reach more victims of online exploitation. The proactive initiatives above were all examples of how Craigslist illustrated its high regard to social responsibility. The following section will recommend additional methodologies that Craigslist can adapt in order to fulfill their social responsible obligations to all parties hurt by the adult services postings.

Social Responsibility Recommendations
Shut down Adult Services Craigslist is considered the largest classified ads site in the world. In order for other smaller sites to follow in their footsteps, Craigslist should remove the Adult Services section altogether. Being the first to remove the Adult Services section suggests that Craigslist is a leader in the classified ads industry. By taking action, Craigslist will help fight against prostitution and sex trafficking (Pegoraro, 2010). It is Craigslist’s responsibility to abide with the law. In order for an ad to be placed in the Adult Services section, one must pay a fee. According to Bloomsburg Business Week, in 2010 the Adult Services Section would generate one third of the companies projected revenues (Stone, 2010). Is it morally acceptable for Craigslist to accept money for ads posted that can promote prostitution? With the removal of the Adult Services section, Craigslist would move in the right direction. Craigslist would send the signal to other venues that host unfiltered adult content that posting girls online for sex and trafficking is not acceptable and will not be tolerated (Kang, 2010).
Is the disclaimer enough? With added pressure from the Attorney General to remove the Adult Services section, Craigslist had to make a decision. Craigslist has the social responsibility to provide a website in such a way that does not promote illegal activity. A black bar that read “censored” replaced the Adult Services section, but did not entirely remove the content from the website. Instead, a new section called “Casual Encounters” was added with a disclaimer that stated the user must be 18 years or older and another line that stated ‘may include adult content’ (The Boston News, 2010). By adding the disclaimer, Craigslist hopes to make users aware of their serious push towards eliminating illegal activity being posted on their site. Without extra efforts made from Craigslist to monitor the ads before being posted, users may encounter ads that are considered illegal. But will the disclaimer stop children from entering the any of the sections that may have adult content? Most likely, the answer is no. Craigslist offers a flagging option which allows users to “flag” any suspicious or derogatory ads. The ad will only be removed if it receives enough negative flags. The flagging system is a great tool to alleviate some unfiltered ads. The best action for Craigslist would be to immediately remove the ad once it is flagged. This could happen if Craigslist added more staff to eradicate the issue.
Add staff and filtering technology Maintaining a small staff is one of Craigslist philosophies that account for their success. However, with a limited number of employees, only so much can be attributed to filtering and monitoring abusive and potentially harmful content that enters their site. Without having a dedicated staff whose main priority is to filter the content being posted to Craigslist, there will be a continuation of illegal ads.
Over the last 15 years, companies like AOL, Yahoo!, MySpace, YouTube, and Facebook have added staff and filtering technology in effort to monitor their sites, reassure parents, calm advertisers, and position themselves as good corporate citizens. They remove pornography, profanity, and other illicit content from their user-generated forums, quickly eradicating pages designed to attract such material (Stone, 2010). In efforts to remain up to speed with these major companies, Craigslist should recruit more employees to help monitor their site, as well as adding filtering technology. Craigslist is accountable for maintaining a reputable site that does not entice criminal behavior.
Still remains “Erotic” Section in Other Countries Although Craigslist changed the “Erotic Service” section to “Adult Services” and has now completely removed the section from the United Sates site, the “Erotic Services” section still remains on other sites throughout the world. There is no warning or disclaimer on the sites in other countries and therefore Craigslist is sending a mixed message by only focusing on removing illegal content in its U.S. operations. In a letter sent to Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster and founder Craig Newmark, human rights groups throughout the world thanked the company for bringing down its adult and erotic ads in the U.S. But the groups said that these services, where trafficked children and women are sold for sex, remain open in 250 cities worldwide. And in not making the same improvements globally, the groups told Craigslist that it "reveals a disingenuous and inconsistent response on your part” (Whitney, 2010).
In effort to become more socially responsible to the users, Craigslist has taken action in regards to the Adult Services content of the website. By removing the Adult Services content, adding disclaimers, and allowing users to flag anything illegal or in violation of Craigslist’s terms and conditions, the company hopes to fight against sex trafficking and prostitution. There are still some extra steps that will improve Craigslist’s social obligation. An addition to the staff and filtering technology, removing any adult related content altogether, and becoming stricter on who enters and provides ads to the site can only benefit Craigslist as well as their contributions to the society.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is Craigslist’s social responsibility to provide classified ads that are not offensive, inappropriate, and illegal. Craigslist must make moral decisions that will ultimately affect the users and other citizens that could be affected by behavior resulting from poor judgment. In efforts to decrease the accusations and legality issues from government and human rights groups, Craigslist has taken necessary actions to eliminate the Adult Services section. Although users will still find ways to manipulate the wording of the ads, Craigslist has added some additional precautions before an ad can be posted. The benefit of being a socially responsible organization will help maintain a reputable public image and only add to its success.
Final Conclusion Through this paper Craigslist has not only demonstrated that they acted for the betterment of society but for betterment of themselves. They have shown that by acting legal, obeying to the laws of the land, they cannot only protect themselves from society but help decrease potential future illegal activity. They have continuously demonstrated how all businesses should act ethically in their decision making process by not only looking at the pros of business, but the cons that may affect society. Furthermore, by making cautious and calculated decisions they have been able to become a more socially responsible company that looks to add value to society and bring about continued awareness toward the aliments of society In the end, we believe that Craigslist made the right decision by removing the Adult services section from there forum page. However, we do want stress that more must be done to further filter their pages of potential illegal behavior. Only the future will tell us if Craigslist has the continued strength to stand up against the rest of the internet free forum posting sites, but we believe that under their current leadership team that this dream has a high likelihood for success.

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