The answer is yes according to this Fox News article:
[New York] City sex workers are now increasingly plying their trade on Facebook, after popular classifieds website Craigslist shut its Erotic Services section last year, according to a recent study.
Since the story is being reported by a number of mainstream news outlets, it will be interesting to see if it gains strength or quietly fades away. I think the latter may be the case.
For now, Facebook doesn’t have a specific policy dealing with prostitution but takes a hard stance against illegal activities, spokesman Andrew Noyes told FoxNews.com. “We will take down content, disable accounts, and may take further action including escalating illegal activity to law enforcement. We strictly enforce this policy through proactive investigations and response to user reports.”
While the public was largely complacent about the censorship campaign against Craigslist, they would be much less likely to sit idly by if anti-prostitution crusaders start shitting on one of their favorite playgrounds. They are also unlikely to find any support from elected officials who view Facebook as a recruiting ground for supporters. Nonetheless, the media always profits by exploiting exploitation paranoia, so it could gain some traction.
Those selling sex, on the other hand, might find Facebook a more attractive place to advertise since they have far more control over who can see their ads.
The big question is how long before CNN’s Amber Lyon sets herself up as a teen sex slave on Facebook to prove that all minors on Facebook are now at risk of being trafficked. This mainstream press theater would be entertaining if it weren’t for the public being so easily taken in by such trash reporting.
Hm, they did close down Violet Blue’s Our Porn, Ourselves Facebook group, despite the absence of any explicit pictures and the generally well-behaved tone of the discussion. Whether or not they’ll care about ‘their favorite play-ground’ depends on whether they’ll see the action as damaging it, or as improving/protecting/cleaning it.
Yeah, that’s a good point. Facebook is apparently trying to maximize appeal by being “family friendly”, so the public might welcome the attempt to eliminate prostitution. I think there’s room to wonder whether it’s actually even possible to screen out prostitution ads, though. When they closed the Craigslist adult section, many prostitutes just reworded their ads and posted somewhere else on the site.
And, of course, it’s unlikely that the media and politicians will call for a drastic change like they did with Craigslist.