Sex trafficking has long been a prevalent issue in America, but the Internet has lifted this egregious industry to new heights by giving traffickers a discrete and remote place to conduct their business. Earlier this year, President Trump signed the combined Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act and Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (FOSTA-SESTA), a bipartisan bill targeting websites that typically host illegal sex work ads, like Backpage and Craigslist. While this bill intends to prevent online sex trafficking by holding these websites accountable for ads posted by traffickers, it has caused great controversy among civil liberties groups and anti-sex trafficking advocates and may not be carrying out its intended purpose.

FOSTA-SESTA makes it a lot easier for state and federal prosecutors to hold host websites accountable for any promotion of illegal sex work or trafficking on their websites. In the past, according to section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, third party websites were not responsible for illegal content posted by users. FOSTA-SESTA amends section 230, adding that host websites are responsible if they knowingly host content that advertises sex work. This reflects a Senate investigation which found the classifieds website Backpages complicit in underage sex trafficking - the website flagged and removed words that obviously advertised underage escorts (i.e. ‘teen,’ ‘young’), but failed to remove the postings themselves.

But this bill acts as a double-edged sword: while the ads promoting online trafficking are gone, it’s now harder for investigators to find those in the sex trade, and has made consensual sex-work more dangerous for workers.

FOSTA-SESTA does not differentiate between consensual sex work and sex trafficking. In fact, it describes the two as ‘inextricably linked.’ But not only does this bill fail to consider legal forms of sex work (which covers everything from porn performers to sex toy manufacturers), it creates danger for both sex workers and trafficking victims.

When most people imagine sex work, they think of prostitution on darkened street corners. But these ‘red light districts’ have recently become digital, as sex workers have benefitted from the ability to screen clients and work indoors. While prostitution is known to be an extremely dangerous profession, online forums have given protection to prostitutes from the violence that they face on the street. Instead of trusting gossip or gut, online pages like Craigslist have allowed sex workers to communicate with each other about safety and specific clients. According to a 2017 study, craigslist’s ‘erotic services’ section may have helped in reducing prostitute homicides by 17 percent. But a bill like FOSTA pushes the sex trade underground, making it harder for sex workers to make sure they’re being as safe as possible and easier for sex traffickers to go under the law’s radar. By failing to differentiate sex work from sex trafficking, FOSTA has done away with a tool that has brought security to those who choose to work in the sex industry.

Backpages and Craigslist also provided a means for law enforcement to the elusive (and often hidden) sex-trafficking industry. According to Indiana Sergeant John Daggy, anti-trafficking investigators have been ‘blinded’ since Backpages’ shutdown. He said that his team used to ‘look at Backpage as a trap for human traffickers and pimps,’ which gave the police a direct route to arrest traffickers. But with the increased liability that FOSTA puts on host websites, popular ones like Reddit and Craigslist are cracking down, pushing the industry into harder to find online spaces, and even into the streets. FOSTA-SESTA has given traffickers the increased coverage of working in lesser-known circles, at the cost of victims’ safety and law enforcement’s expertise on their workings.

The bill fails to consider legal forms of sex work (from porn performers to sex toy manufacturers) and creates danger for both sex workers and trafficking victims.

The Freedom Network, the largest anti-trafficking alliance of advocates and experts, has been a voice against FOSTA-SESTA for these reasons. According to their organization, the government should do more to hold traffickers accountable, rather than the websites traffickers have used for advertisement and promotion. While the shutdown of sex-related ads on places like Craigslist and Backpages has gotten rid of the advertisements, the people behind the ads still exist. Without a forum that allows law enforcement or the host website to flag ads that may be a result of sex trafficking, traffickers haven’t disappeared, but instead have become much harder to find. The victims who may have been advertised on Backpages are still victims, but are now in more dangerous more elusive positions.

Despite its numerous problems and controversy, FOSTA was passed with good intentions. Through collaboration with sex work and anti-trafficking advocates, as well as those who prosecute these crimes, a real difference can be made in preventing trafficking in the U.S. while also not compromising sex workers’ safety.

Bridget Duggan is an editorial intern at bSmart. She is a New Jersey native and a rising sophomore at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.