SAN FRANCISCO — Classified ad website Craigslist.org, which serves more than 20 billion page views per month, tonight said that it was dropping “personals” listings in the U.S. as a result of yesterday’s SESTA vote in the Senate.
“U.S. Congress just passed HR 1865, seeking to subject websites to criminal and civil liability when third parties misuse online personals unlawfully. Any tool or service can be misused,” the platform said on its website. “We can't take such risk without jeopardizing all our other services, so we are regretfully taking Craigslist personals offline. Hopefully we can bring them back some day.
“To the millions of spouses, partners, and couples who met through Craigslist, we wish you every happiness!”
Craigslist, which operates in more than 700 cities in 70 countries, hosts sections devoted to jobs, housing, for sale, items wanted, services, community, gigs, resumes, and discussion forums, along with personals.
The personals section included the following categories: strictly platonic, women seeking women, women seeking men, men seeking women, men seeking men, miscellaneous romance and casual encounters.
The elimination of the Craigslist personals section may come as a surprise to many, and social media has been abuzz with shock and frustration.
Craigslist is just one of many companies that could be affected by the passage of SESTA if President Trump signs it into law. An earlier report can be viewed here.