Is Craigslists so perfect that it must be destroyed?

(written by Lawrence Krubner, however indented passages are often quotes)

I’m confused about the campaign against Craigslist. I have a cynical side that is tempted to agree with this:

Let’s call the campaign against Craigslist what it was: A pathetic political stunt by headline-hungry politicians. Their time would be better spent going after criminals, the pimps, child pornographers and human traffickers that represent true evil in the world. Going after an easy target like Craigslist isn’t the way to do it.

But really, this doesn’t begin to answer the real question – why does this kind of stunt get politicians in the news? Why does the public respond in a positive way to this? It surprises me that the public uses the Internet to such a massive extent, yet it remains fearful of it.

I suspect the real answer would go back to other questions I’ve had these last 15 years – why does the public seem to fear the Internet so much? I recall 4 years ago when the campaign against MySpace was at a fever pitch. I recall what danah boyd wrote then:

MySpace is in a different position, one far more harrowing. MySpace has grown so large that the needs, values and practices of its users are slamming into each other. It’s facing the archetypical clashing of cultures. Yet, interestingly, most users are not that concerned – they’re trying to figure out how to live in this super public. The challenge is that outsiders are panicking about a culture that they are not a part of. They want to kill the super public rather than support people in learning how to negotiate it. No one knows how to live in such a super public, but this structure is going to become increasingly a part of our lives. It is no wonder that youth want to figure it out. And it is critical that they do, especially since our physical worlds have become more segregated and walled off, partitioned by age, race, class, religion, values, etc. Yet, it is the older generation that did that segregating and they’re not really ready to face collapsed contexts at every turn or to learn how to engage with people who have very different values on a daily basis. Because of their position of power, outsiders are pushing the big red emergency button, screaming danger and creating a complete and utter moral panic. Welcome to a generational divide, where adults are unable to see the practices of their children on kids’ terms.

If MySpace falters in the next 1-2 years, it will be because of this moral panic. Before all of you competitors get motivated to exacerbate the moral panic, think again. If the moral panic succeeds:

Youth will lose (even more) freedom of speech. How far will the curtailment of the First Amendment go?
All users will lose the safety and opportunities of pseudonymity, particularly around political speech and particularly internationally.

Internet companies will be required to confirm the real life identity of all users. At their own cost.

International growth on social communities will be massively curtailed because it is much harder to confirm non-US populations.

Internet companies will lose the protections of common carrier which will have ramifications in all sorts of directions.

Internet companies will see a massive increase in subpoenas and will be forced to turn over data on their users which will in turn destroy the trust relationship between companies and users.

There will be a much greater barrier for new communities to form and for startups to build out new social environments.

International companies will be far better positioned to create new social technologies because they won’t have to abide by American laws even if American citizens use their technology (assuming the servers are hosted outside of the US). Unless, of course, we decide to block sites on a nation-wide basis….

If the moral panic over MySpace succeeds and causes a change in law (which it is looking like it will), everyone invested in social technologies will lose. In other words, stop celebrating the crisis and get off your asses and engage. This panic is not just a funny side note. It is an industry wide problem concerning speech, property and responsibility. I find it deeply disturbing that we are suggesting that technology companies should be operating in loco parentis.

The panic moves blindly from one website to another. Today it is Craigslist. Tomorrow it will be someone else. What remains constant is the panic. But why?