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“Backpage’s response wasn’t to deny what we said. It was to shut down their site,” the senators said in a statement. “That’s not ‘censorship’ – it’s validation of our findings.”

Backpage’s response wasn’t to deny what we said. It was to shut down their site

Larkin and Lacey are scheduled to appear at Tuesday’s hearing, along with Backpage’s chief executive, chief of operations and general counsel. Several alleged “victims of Backpage’s practices” are also slated to appear, according to the subcommittee’s site. In a letter to the subcommittee, attorneys for Backpage said Larkin, Lacey and the others do not plan to testify, and compared the subcommittee’s probe to the anti-communist crusades of Sen. Joseph McCarthy.

In a separate statement, Larkin and Lacey cited Backpage’s list of legal battles, saying courts in multiple states have sided with the site in litigation over its adult ads.

“Today, the censors have prevailed. We get it,” Larkin and Lacey said in a statement. “But the shut-down of Backpage’s adult classified advertising is an assault on the First Amendment. We maintain hope for a more robust and unbowed Internet in the future.”

Backpage contends that its adult ads have become a crucial resource for law enforcement agencies investigating human trafficking. According to Backpage attorneys, local and federal authorities around the country have turned to the site for help tracking down people who have “impermissibly sought to use the internet as a platform to commit abhorrent crimes.” The site has long collaborated with law enforcement officers, the attorneys said, and has donated to Children of the Night, an organization whose mission is to rescue children from prostitution.