Fact Checking Part I: Tony Ortega in the Crosshairs

Lots of ink has been spilled the past couple of days in the fallout of the recent presidential debate. No small portion of the discussion has centered around of the need for fact checkers to verify information being broadcast to public by those in positions of assumed authority.

Indeed, being that ‘fact-checking’ is something we take very seriously here at the blog, this caused us to prick up our ears.

The bit of in-depth fact checking in particular that caught our attention today comes from a story in the NY Times, which set out to verify some of the recent claims about ‘Backpage sex trafficking’ being made to the public.

To quote the claim as identified in the article:

“In 2018, the Department of Justice (DOJ) dismantled an organization that was _the internet_’ s leading source of prostitution-related advertisements resulting in sex trafficking .”

Fact check: True

Though US law enforcement agencies have made great efforts in combating the sort of illegal sex trafficking Tony Ortega used to go out of his way to defend and make excuses for, it is worth pointing out that the long-running sting to bust Backpage was, in fact, years in the making.

Even as Tony Ortega was busy shouting from his soapbox in a losing attempt to spin child sex trafficking into some sort of a brave First Amendment crusade, authorities were training their cross hairs on the scoff-law website and its principle actors.

The plain fact of the matter is that Tony Ortega’s lies, while voluminous, simply cannot stand up in the harsh light of fact-based verification.

When it comes to the serious topics of human trafficking and child sex slavery, thorough fact checking is a non-negotiable essential. The reason for this is as clear as it is simple — the final word on the matter is just too important to cede to mercenary stooges like Tony Ortega.

As those like us who exist to call these fraudsters to account are fond of saying— “None who parrot lies they are paid spread should ever be allowed to go unchecked.”

And that’s a fact.

In Fact Checking Part II we will explore in some detail the contemporary reporting surrounding the events as they were unfolding. Suffice to say for now, reporting at the time painted pretty condemnatory picture of what the Backpage enterprise was all about, even then.