The United States House of Representatives has passed a bill that would allow legal action against websites that host advertisements for prostitution — some of which advertise trafficked children. This includes websites like Backpage.The bill will now go to the Senate and, if approved, to the White House.The new legislation arose as current anti-trafficking laws could not be applied to websites like Backpage as they were protected under the Communications Decency Act, a law that protects websites from liability for material posted by third parties.Congress then began investigating Backpage and found that its operators were helping users modify ads to delete references to teenage prostitution, but still kept the ads up.Other Internet companies, including Google, remained opposed to the new legislation because they worry that it threatens the Communication Decency Act. Evan Engstrom, executive director of Engine, an advocacy group for Internet start-ups, said “you’re creating a situation that may end up harming efforts to stop human trafficking. It creates potential legal liability for knowingly facilitating trafficking..” Furthermore, he said material can be posted on websites without hosts’ knowledge.Still, lawmakers heralded the final vote of 388-25 on the bill as a significant step forward. Rep. Ann Wagner of Missouri said “This is a landmark piece of legislation. This is not just about Backpage. There are hundreds of others out there that are much worse. They’ve got to be brought down also,https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/true-crime/wp/2018/02/27/house-passes-anti-online-sex-trafficking-bill-allows-targeting-of-websites-like-backpage-com/?utm_term=.42deaceed669