South Carolina gives craigslist ten days to remove illegal content

South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster is telling the CEO of the Internet classified site craigslist to remove illegal content and prostitution ads or face prosecution, claiming that craigslist management has knowingly allowed the site to be used for illegal and unlawful activity despite warnings from law enforcement.

McMaster says that craigslist must "remove the portions of the Internet site dedicated to South Carolina and its municipal regions which contain categories for and functions allowing for the solicitation of prostitution and the dissemination and posting of graphic pornographic material within ten days."

In a letter to craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster, the attorney general says that craigslist management may be subject to criminal investigation and prosecution by his office. The letter goes on to say that in November of 2008, craigslist entered into an agreement with forty states and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to install safeguards to combat unlawful activity and improve public safety on the craigslist internet classified service.

The letter also says that "recent national events, along with ongoing law enforcement efforts in South Carolina, indicate that craigslist has not installed sufficient safeguards since then to prohibit the Internet from being used as a vehicle to advertise or solicit prostitution and that that the unrestricted manner in which graphic pornographic pictures are posted and displayed by users on cragslist and their accessibility to minors is also a concern."

Craigslist has been the subject of national publicity recently because of allegations that a man in Boston used the exotic service section of the website to contact women that he murdered.

McMaster's letter tells craigslist officials they have until the close of business on Friday, May 15 to comply with his order.

We also checked with the office of Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker. A spokesman, Russ Willard, told me that "Georgia is also concerned about sex related postings on craigslist and is studying the matter internally."

Willard says he can't speculate on whether Georgia will take the same action as South Carolina.