Two Republican lawmakers in Florida “are pushing legislation to help prosecutors go after operators of Web sites that, under the guise of legitimate modeling businesses, post photos of scantily-clad minors striking suggestive poses.”
Similar legislation was proposed by the infamous former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley. That might make liberals think: Those damn, hypocritical Republicans are wasting our time on prudery. If you’re unfamiliar with these sites, click on this example at your own risk. ETA: Beware of using a work computer because this does look like child porn, even though it is readily available from a Google search.
Doesn’t it seem like child abuse to allow your daughter to pose spread-eagled in underwear for men who pay a subscription fee? I’d worry how these pictures might encourage pedophiles, but the champions of free speech have assured us that images have no effect whatsoever on people’s desires, and thus, presumably the billion-dollar advertising industry is all for naught.
In 2006, the NYT described
the latest trend in online child exploitation: Web sites for pedophiles offering explicit, sexualized images of children who are covered by bits of clothing — all in the questionable hope of allowing producers, distributors and customers to avoid child pornography charges. …
They first appeared in the late 1990’s, when entrepreneurs, and even parents, recognized that there was a lucrative market online for images of girls and boys. …
Unlike the original sites, the newer ones are explicit in their efforts to market to pedophiles, referring to young children with phrases like “hot” and “delicious.” The children involved are far younger, and the images far more sexual ...