Kristof, in particular, has been targeting Backpage.com for at least five years — but has been caught vastly exaggerating claims about the site to the point of potentially misstating facts entirely (such as claiming Backpage existed before it actually did, and that it operated in cities where it did not). Kristof also has a history of being laughably credulous when someone comes along with a good story about sex trafficking, even when it‘s mostly made up. He‘s been accused of having a bit of a savior complex.

And that‘s on display with his recent, extraordinarily confused piece attacking Google for not supporting SESTA — the „Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act.“ As we‘ve explained in great detail, SESTA (despite its name) is unlikely to stop any sex trafficking and likely would make the problem worse.