OTTAWA — The federal justice minister has given a tongue-lashing to an online advertising service for failing to remove erotic ads from its Canadian website.
Rob Nicholson said Wednesday he is “personally offended” that Jim Buckmaster, chief executive of Craigslist, has not replied to a letter asking the ads be removed.
“I am extremely disappointed that he has failed to do so,” Nicholson said. “Our government is concerned that such advertisements are facilitating serious criminal offences such as living off the avails of child prostitution and trafficking in persons.
“Craigslist should do the right thing and remove those ads immediately.”
Outside the House, Nicholson accused Buckmaster of being afraid of government intervention, which the minister said is in the interest of public safety.
The minister sent a letter to Craigslist early last month, voicing concerns that the service encourages child exploitation and human trafficking.
Craigslist, based in the United States, has already removed such ads from its American site.
The Ontario government first asked the San Francisco-based company to remove the ads under its erotic services section in mid-September, two weeks after Craigslist removed the ads in the United States.
Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta followed suit.