Backpage Founder's Knowledge of Prostitution Ads Debated in Court

Defense argues Backpage founder Michael Lacey lacked day-to-day operations involvement and had good-faith belief in legality of the site, amid accusations of facilitating prostitution and money laundering.

• Michael Lacey, the founder of Backpage, is facing his second trial on charges of facilitating prostitution and money laundering.
• During the closing statement, the prosecution argued that Lacey was aware of the prostitution ads on the site as most of the site's revenues came from adult ads.
• The defense contends that Lacey was not involved in the daily operations of Backpage and did not see the 50 ads at issue before the trial.
• It has been argued that Lacey believed the site was operated lawfully based on its cooperation with law enforcement, and his legal team maintains that site content was protected by the First Amendment.
• Backpage, which reportedly generated $500 million in prostitution-related revenue from 2004 to 2018, has been accused of ignoring warnings to stop running prostitution ads, some involving children, and cultivating arrangements with sex workers to post ads.

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