Metafilter And The Russian Sex Slaves That Never Were

I’m part of a vocal minority in a conversation over at Metafilter that has gotten a lot of attention from other blogs, and on the websites of popular print-based publications like Newsweek and Mother Jones. I’m disappointed at the lack of critical thinking and willingness to embrace the hype all round, and the mefi threads have proven unfriendly to skepticism, so I’m going to lay out my ideas here. I’ll also ping others who seem to share my concerns to some extent or other, in hope that they may see this post as a place to comment on the phenomenon, relatively unfettered by hype.

If you are completely unfamiliar with the situation, then the basic threads are here and here.

The popular narrative is this:

Two young women from Russia were suckered by a scam in which they were offered visas and good jobs in the US. Little did they know that they were on a fast track to becoming prostitutes and/or sex slaves. An American man who knew one of the women posted to Metafilter, asking for help. The community rallied, offering resources and contacting the authorities. One NYC mefite met the Russians as they arrived in the city and took them in. Crisis averted!

Taken at face value, this story has a lot of appeal, which is, I think, the main reason why so many people are already so resistant to the idea of taking it at anything more than face value. It has a sort of “we’re living in a movie” vibe to it. The clear line between good and evil; the international intrigue, the feeling of a conspiracy being foiled, the relief at seeing a group of altruistic people come together to defeat a group of selfish people, and the fascination at the idea that the benevolent people in the scenario mostly don’t know each other. Read the rest of this entry »