I was listening in on the “Strategy Room” earlier today and the panel was discussing the “
Craigslist killer” with Attorney Gloria Allred. Allred’s view was that the owner of Craigslist should voluntarily apologize to the family of the young woman who was murdered and develop a system to regulate the services that the site offers. Her position is that it’s the responsibility of the website to filter killers, freaks, sex offenders, etc. I think that this stance is completely ludicrous and is a prime example of how Americans complain about rules and regulations only to want exceptions in situations like these. Personally, I think it is up to the individual to use their own judgment when posting ads and responding to people. Sure, the internet can be a dangerous place if not approached with caution, but the bottom line is that it’s up to the people who voluntarily choose to use it to make decisions that they feel suit their situation.
No disrespect to the 19 year old young woman who was killed, but had I been in her position I would have died broke and lonely before posting an ad on Craigslist taken a friend with me to the meetup which would be arranged in a very public place or taken it a little further and done a background check since her services would naturally attract those of a freakier persuasion. Allred’s rebuttal to that act of common sense is that no 19 year old is going to run a background check or ask questions because at that age people are naïve and still need to be protected. To that I say that the young lady was grown enough to advertise massage sessions on Craigslist so she should’ve been grown enough to place her safety above the $400 fee for the service that she offered.
When I look back on when I was 19 I made mistakes, but they were all voluntary and I was always aware of the consequences of my actions. At that age I was in a position to be independent since I was in college 1,200 miles away from home and took that chance to grow into who I am as a person. The decisions I made back then were sometimes risky and dangerous, but I can’t honestly say that I wasn’t aware of every decision that I made and the various outcomes that were possibilities. I’m an open book so I’ll give an example…I knew at 19 that chillin at my friend’s house where the neighborhood drug dealers chilled at all the time could one day result in the police raiding the place and if they went down that I was going down too. Did that stop me from going? Nope. Did the house ever get raided? Yup, but thank goodness I wasn’t there.
Do you think that Craigslist should be regulated? Why or why not? Is 19 old enough to process the potential danger of the internet?
Sent from my Sprint® BlackBerry
