Senate Passes SESTA, Controversial 'Anti-Sex Trafficking' Bill That Could Ruin the Internet and Harm Sex Workers (Gizmodo)

Read the full article by Rhett Jones at Gizmodo.com

On Wednesday, the Senate approved a bill that on its face is intended to curb online sex trafficking. However, experts say it will increase online censorship, stifle innovation, and make everyone less safe online. The House had already passed a version of the bill and it will likely become law in a short time. Now, all that’s left is a signature from President Trump.

The hapless members of the US Congress are good at piecemealing together legislation that makes it look like they’ve done something but really just confuses the issue. Case in point, the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act of 2017 (SESTA) has the kind of name that makes it nearly impossible to oppose in public, despite the fact that it could lead to more enabling of sex trafficking online. Originally proposed by Senator Rob Portman, it’s gone through some changes and has been adapted into the House’s Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA) bill that passed in February. There a lot of little details and minor differences to discuss between each version of what the EFF has called a “Frankenstein’s Monster of a bill.” For the sake of clarity, let’s just call it all SESTA since the criticisms are mostly consistent between the House and Senate versions of the legislation.