• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, October 22, 2015

Government officials from across the country are asking a federal appellate court to reinstate a lawsuit against Backpage by a group of teen sex-trafficking victims.

"Backpage plays a central role in the sex trafficking industry," officials from San Francisco, Atlanta, Houston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Portland and Providence say in a proposed friend-of-the-court brief filed with the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals.

Backpage "actively develops the content of child sex trafficking ads and other ads for the sale of sex," the city officials contend. "It does this by, among other things, selecting certain content from original ads to create Sponsored Ads; stripping metadata from photographs, thereby hiding victims’ and traffickers’ identities; and coaching traffickers to use language that deflects law enforcement attention."

The city officials are seeking to weigh in on an appeal of a ruling that dismissed three teens' lawsuit accusing the company of facilitating trafficking through the design of its online classifieds site.

A federal judge in Boston threw out the case last year, ruling that the Communications Decency Act immunizes Web services companies from liability for crimes by users. “Congress has made the determination that the balance between suppression of trafficking and freedom of expression should be struck in favor of the latter in so far as the Internet is concerned,” U.S. District Court Judge Richard Stearns wrote in an opinion dismissing the lawsuit.

The teens are now asking the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals to revive the case. They argue that Backpage isn't entitled to rely on the protections of the Communications Decency Act because the company went beyond merely hosting ads. They say Backpage "knowingly operated and protected an online marketplace for illegal transactions."

A host of other groups, incuding the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the nonprofit FAIR Girls, also have asked to weigh in against Backpage.

The classifieds company is asking the appellate court to rebuff the outside organizations, arguing that they're not entitled to get involved in the dispute. "Their proposed briefs improperly ... level additional (and highly prejudicial) factual accusations against defendants that were not pleaded by the plaintiffs," Backpage says in court papers filed late last week.

Backpage hasn't yet responded to the substance of the teens' appeal, but the company -- and its supporters -- have argued in the past that the Communications Decency Act protects Web services companies from liability for users' posts. Digital rights groups argue that any other result would require online platforms to moderate comments, or simply stop offering forums for uses' posts.

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey weighed in against Backpage in a separate filing. "Unlike America Online or Yahoo! ... Backpage’s alleged role in sex trafficking is not an unfortunate or unavoidable consequence of free speech and commerce online," Healey argues. "Instead, assuming the truth of appellants’ allegations, Backpage actively encourages, develops, and safeguards online advertisements selling sex and similar illicit content."

Healy adds: "It is well known that Backpage gets its name from the New York-based Village Voice newspaper, whose 'back pages' were once known for classified advertisements for commercial sex...It is no accident, therefore, that Backpage makes its money by selling ad space to individuals peddling sex."

Backpage is fighting court battles in several locales, including Illinois and Washington states. In Illinois, Backpage is asking a federal appellate court to order Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart to stop lobbying against the company.

Earlier this year, Visa and Mastercard said they would no longer process payments for Backpage.com. Both credit card companies ended their relationship with Backpage after receiving letters from Dart, who told the companies that sites like Backpage facilitate online sex trafficking.

U.S. District Court Judge John Tharp in Illinois initially issued a restraining order that prohibited Dart from lobbying credit card companies against Backpage. But Tharp allowed that order to expire after Dart presented evidence showing that Mastercard and Visa were already considering ending their relationship with Backpage before he became involved.

Backpage is now asking the 7th Circuit to reverse that decision.

The company also recently lost a battle in Washington, when that state's highest court revived a lawsuit against brought by a separate group of sex-trafficking victims. In that case, the court said the teens should have an opportunity to prove that Backpage went beyond serving as an intermediary by "developing" illegal content.