TAG / TONY ORTEGA

RESULTS

HUMAN RIGHTS

DOJ Launches Largest Trafficking Victim Payout in US History—Questions Remain Over Tony Ortega’s Role

While Backpage’s owners are serving prison sentences, former Village Voice editor Tony Ortega—who defended the site and mocked victims—hasn’t faced charges, prompting calls for broader accountability.

HATE

Alex Barnes-Ross Is No Apostate: The Story of an Obsessed Stalker’s Collapse

Expelled from the Church of Scientology after stalking a young woman, Barnes-Ross has spent the last dozen years working to convert his discharge into a livestreamed vendetta for cash.

VIOLATIONS

San Francisco Standard Shamelessly Abandons Ethics to Serve Bigotry and Clicks

How a reporter’s reliance on a discredited hate blogger cast a shadow over a story—and a website—masquerading as journalism.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Reuters OnlyFans Investigation Uncovers Porn, Rape and Slavery  

OnlyFans claims they prohibit illegal content and moderate what gets posted on their site. The evidence tells a different story.

HUMAN RIGHTS

New $215 Million Victims Fund Will Help Survivors Sex Trafficked on Backpage

The owners were jailed and the website assets confiscated, but the role of Tony Ortega—Backpage’s notorious sex trafficking champion—remains to be fully explored.

HUMAN RIGHTS

We Needed a Vote to Abolish Slavery. On the Resolution’s 75th Anniversary, It’s Skyrocketed Instead.

The United Nations passed an anti-slavery resolution on December 2 in 1949. Since then, humans owned by others have skyrocketed to 50 million worldwide. What will it take to stop this scourge?

VIOLATIONS

Daily Beast CEO Ben Sherwood Is the Same Kind of Sexual Predator He Regularly Platforms, Accusers Say

As The Daily Beast nears oblivion, their CEO’s sordid past is rearing its ugly head. Their use of sources for articles with the same ugly history of which Sherwood stands accused probably isn’t helping. 

VIOLATIONS

Daily Beast’s Sean Craig Whitewashes Abuse of Women; Sources Story to Wife Beaters & Sex Trafficking Enablers

The Daily Beast’s desperation to exercise their anti-Scientology bigotry causes them to ignore the compromised and deeply disturbing backgrounds of their sources.

VIOLATIONS

Reporters Support Sex Trafficking at the Expense of Child Victims

Backpage was seized and shut down by the government, its founder jailed (after another committed suicide). So why are reporters standing up for the site and its sex trafficking?

VIOLATIONS

In Touch Editor James Heidenry Sends Cease and Desist Letter to Distance Himself from His Own Sleazy Publication

Heidenry and his lawyer appear confused about the First Amendment and various other facts.