Sen. Ron Wyden (D., Ore.) is trying to put the brakes on a bipartisan anti-sex trafficking bill that is picking up steam and appears headed for all but certain Senate passage early next year.
The bill, which the Commerce Committee unanimously passed this week, would allow families of victims of sex-trafficking, as well as states, to sue websites like Backpage, a Craigslist competitor, that allow advertisements selling sex with minors to be posted.
Wyden on Wednesday issued a hold on the measure, arguing that it could harm start-up Internet companies, the tech economy, and innovators.
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“He’s starting to look like one of those hold-outs on an armed camp on federal land as the National Guard closes in,” said Jamie Court, president of the nonprofit consumer advocacy group Consumer Watchdog, which has strongly backed the bill along with the National Center for Sexual Exploitation and several other anti-trafficking groups.
