San Francisco – After receiving threats of criminal charges from South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster over its alleged refusal to block prostitution and graphic pornographic ads on the site, Craigslist yesterday sued McMaster, seeking declaratory relief and a restraining order against the charges. "In addition to being unwarranted by the facts, legal experts agree that the charges threatened represent an unconstitutional prior restraint on free speech, and are clearly barred by federal law," Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster wrote in a blog post.

A number of state attorneys general went after Craigslist in the wake of news that "Craigslist killer" Philip Markoff stalked victims on the site’s "Erotic Services" section, prompting the company to voluntarily agree to remove the section entirely, and henceforth manually screen for prostitution or graphic pornography in ads.

McMaster, however, continued to threaten criminal prosecution against the company and its executives.

"Despite Craigslist’s legal immunity from criminal or civil liability under state law for unlawful third-party content on its website, and despite the numerous good-faith actions that Craigslist has voluntarily taken to deter abuse of its service by third parties … McMaster has persisted in threats to criminally prosecute Craigslist on the basis of third-party content appearing on the Craigslist website," reads the company’s legal complaint.

In a statement on Wednesday, McMaster backpedaled somewhat, saying that the lawsuit "shows that craigslist is taking the matter seriously for the first time," and noted the removal of the Erotic Services section.

Talk of a criminal investigation, supposedly already underway, was replaced with McMaster saying his office "will continue to monitor the site to make certain that our laws are respected."

Related Links:
http://blog.craigslist.org/2009/05/cl-sues-sc-ag-for-declaratory-relief/

http://snipurl.com/ifrdk (PDF of Craigslist filing)

http://www.scattorneygeneral.org/newsroom/advisories/2009/5-20.pdf (PDF)