Backpage's case would be stronger if they hadn't set themselves up to profit from this type of illegal advert, and if they hadn't hampered law enforcement at every opportunity.
Yeah it's a dubious case IMO. The 1st amendment is incredibly important and even more so in journalism, but this seems like a retroactive last ditch defense.
They clearly wanted to profit off of the sex industry in places where it was still illegal to do so.
They clearly wanted to profit off of the sex industry in places where it was still illegal to do so.