Reflections

Documentary
Dark web
In defining his six laws of technology, American historian This is unfortunate, because at its heart, the legal
Melvin Kranzberg concluded it was “neither good nor conflict of I am Jane Doe is fascinating. Key to Backpage’s
bad”, albeit with one major caveat: technology, he defence is Section 230 of the Communications Decency
reasoned, was not “neutral”. Although each development Act (CDA), which confers blanket immunity on internet
and each new device may lend themselves to a particular service providers against content uploaded by third parties.
use, they may, quite innocently, be capable of others. Regularly defined as a “safe harbour” defence, the Section,
Televisions for instance, produce light, but we don’t use if appropriately invoked, can protect websites like YouTube,
them to light rooms, no more than we use blistering light Facebook, and indeed Backpage from actions for copyright
bulbs as a primary source of heat. infringement, defamation, indecent, or other illegal
When Kranzberg died in 1995, the world wide web content uploaded by their users.

50 eggs
was in its infancy. Few, if any, could have predicted how The film documents Backpage’s successful use of this
its development would change things, giving rise to a defence on several occassions, which unsurprisingly proves I am Jane Doe
range of opportunities and behaviours spanning the devastating for the victims and their families. The viewer Directed by Mary Mazzio, 2017
99 mins
moral gamut. It is to the darker end of this spectrum that too, is hard pressed to agree with the appropriateness of
For more on young people
I am Jane Doe takes us. Written and directed by filmmaker such judicial reasoning, as the documentary goes out of and digital technology
Mary Mazzio, the documentary delves into the seedy and its way to establish the inadequacy of Backpage’s security see Editorial
disturbing world of online trafficking, where children— measures in relation to its adult content. We see how Lancet Child Adolesc Health
2018; 2: 79
predominantly girls—are “bought and sold, with little its list of banned advert terms designed to prevent the
more than a click of a mouse”. sexual sale of minors is easily circumvented via slangs
The subsequent material makes for difficult viewing, such as “fresh” and “off the boat”, and through the use
as the filmmaker outlines the processes by which of emojis such as water droplets without an umbrella, to
vulnerable, usually runaway, children are targeted. denote facilitation of condomless sex. We also hear of the
Mazzio’s film quickly and expertly cuts between police company’s lenient moderator policy, read aloud during a
officers, government officials, campaigners, and even Senate Subcommittee Hearing on Child Sex Trafficking:
a former pimp, lifting the veil on a network of flagrant “if in doubt about underage, the process should now be
predators, targeting places like shopping malls and fast to accept the ad. Only delete if you [sic] really very sure
food restaurants. “They see any [children with] low self- person is underage.”
esteem, where they’re holding their head down, and Backpage’s subsequent behaviour does little to
they’re walking, they don’t make eye contact—those are rectify things. We see their Chief Executive Officer, Carl
the ones that they go after”, says Marian Hatcher, Human Ferrer, ignore a summons from the Subcommittee,
Trafficking Coordinator for Cook County, IL, USA. Horrific refusing to turn up and acknowledge, or even refute, the
abuse often follows, with the children offered for sale for accusations, something Senator John McCain describes
sex on websites like Backpage, “the largest online classified as unprecedented in his experience. When eventually
site in the U.S., behind Craigslist”. forced to appear via contempt of congress proceedings,
The testimonies of the anonymised survivors, the the company’s executives refuse to answer questions, or
Jane Does of the title, are heartbreaking and serve as comment, invoking their fifth amendment rights against
the emotional fulcrum of the film, contextualising all self-incrimination.
that comes after, as the parents of several victims seek The result is one of anger and dissatisfaction for the
redress against Backpage. Resultantly, the film changes viewer, something Mazzio capitalises upon in the film’s
shape, morphing from shocking exposé into a taut legal epilogue, utilising it as a call to action against Backpage,
thriller. Throughout this change, Mazzio’s passion and and Section 230 of the CDA. ”What if it was your
outrage are abundant; however, the complexity of the daughter?” one of the victims asks, staring unflinching
narrative begins to confuse things. Tasked with following into the camera. “How would you feel then?” By closing
numerous proceedings, the legislatures of multiple with Lincoln’s famous incitement “not to overthrow
states, and Backpage’s opaque corporate structure, the the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert
viewer easily gets lost, even with the film’s liberal use of the Constitution”, Mazzio’s film serves as a prominent
a timeline. Things are muddied further by the jump cuts reminder that legislation, like technology, is capable of
Mazzio favours, moving between lawyers, politicians, and both specific and ancillary, sometimes unpalatable, use.
campaigners so quickly that few are afforded more context
than their soundbites allow. Andrew Bianchi

www.thelancet.com/child-adolescent Vol 2 March 2018 167