In 2018, U.S. lawmakers voted overwhelmingly in favor of the Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act in order to hold tech companies liable when their platforms are used for sex trafficking. According to law enforcement officials, however, the law has made it more difficult to investigate sex trafficking activity by pushing the offenders “further underground.” In addition, this has made it harder for sex workers to inspect their clients in order to avoid potentially dangerous situations. A federal study of the effects of the 2018 law is now in progress, backed by 13 national lawmakers.
Compiled from: McCabe, David, and Kate Conger, Stamping Out Online Sex Trafficking May Have Pushed It Underground, The New York Times (December 17, 2019).