We’re Not Strangers: Digital Censorship and Moderated Bodies

Attacking the whore does not stop your subjugation, but being their accomplice may. We’re Not Strangers is a series of op-eds exploring sex work, accompliceship, and our collective agency. 

Digital censorship, and subsequent deplatforming, are just two of the many tactics initially deployed against erotic labor that is now being turned against non-sex workers. Sex workers, especially those with compounding marginalized identities, have been advising that hostile campaigns against them would trickle into all sectors of the general population. In the age of modern technology, they have historically faced an onslaught of targeted movements against their agency and livelihood in defense of the health and safety of the masses. Does their criminalization actually bring protections for all, or has it been stripping away our collective autonomy in the digital space?

Online platforms were once a safe haven for erotic laborers to conduct their work. Sex workers are typically the first to use and popularize social media websites to build community, share business and safety tips, or find clients. One example is OnlyFans (OF), a subscription-model content hosting platform. Launched in 2016, the website exploded in the early 2020s during the height of the COVID-19 lockdowns. As nearly the entire world was stuck at home, sex workers were also forced indoors and online. OF showed itself to be an accessible platform to upload paid content and connect with fans, allowing sex workers to continue working despite the landscape changing.

OnlyFans reportedly generated a 553% increase (about $2 billion) in revenue in 2020 from the year prior, largely attributed to the financial boom of the sex working community migrating to the platform. However, once sites like OF find success and reap enough financial reward, the community that once shaped the platform are the first to face expulsion on it. Influencers and celebrities, notably Bella Thorne and Cardi B, began using the platform. This sparked concerns from OF’s bank partners, who pressured the company executives to shift away from pornographic media entirely, deeming it a risk of reputation. In 2021, OnlyFans announced their departure from adult content and new anti-porn policies, pivoting towards safe-for-work media and pushing out sex workers from the platform. 

The intimidation from banks did not materialize out of nowhere. What resulted in punitive measures towards sex workers stemmed from a decades-long legislative battle and attack on sex work, culminating at the 2018 passing of SESTA-FOSTA. SESTA-FOSTA, or the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers and Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act, are anti-prostitution legislation disguised to protect the public from human trafficking by stripping platforms of civil and criminal liability protections. In response, sex workers were scapegoated as conductors of sexual exploitation, and platforms deleted their content, shut down websites, banned communities and barred access to services like payment processors.

OnlyFans ended up walking back on their ban, sharing that they secured the necessary assurances to maintain a diverse platform for all of their creators. The situation left many sex-working creators with feelings of distrust, and it wouldn’t be the first time a shift in content policies weighed heavily on marginalized users.

Another debacle that preceded the OnlyFans ban was a moderation controversy on YouTube. Pepsi, Walmart, Johnson & Johnson, and other major advertisers cut ties with Google’s video-sharing platform upon discovering that their advertisements were running on extremist and hate-speech ridden content in 2017. Known as the Adpocalypse, many content creators saw a decline in monetization during this period. As advertisements are YouTube’s largest revenue source, the video-sharing platform took action by aggressively updating their creator policies and moderation practices in order to get back into good graces. 

2-SLGBTQ+ and BIPOC creators later found that tagging key words like “transgender” or discussing topics like racial justice led to demonetization after the algorithm changes. Many questioned why queer and racial-justice related content were not considered safe for advertisers or children. On the last day of Pride Month in 2018, YouTube released an apology to the 2-SLGBTQ+ community for the wrongful over-enforcement of their policies and the anti-gay ads placed on their videos that slipped through automoderation. The platform committed to increased human moderation to prevent further issues for advertisers and creators alike, yet to this day, creators face age and content restrictions brought on by the Adpocalypse. 

The Adpocalypse was an ill omen to other social media platforms. Fueled by SESTA-FOSTA, there was a collective implementation of censorship tactics to further impose control on the internet – one of which being shadowbanning. 

In Posting into the Void, a study exploring the content moderation of sex workers, Hacking//Hustling defines shadowbanning as “a tool that platforms use to reduce the prevalence of content the platform deems ‘high risk’.” By decreasing the visibility of social media profiles and their related content, the user’s appearances in their follower’s feeds is reduced. Unfortunately, there is no way to confirm if you have been shadowbanned – no emails, notification, or the ability to appeal. Instead, confirmation appears in the page’s interactions; decreased viewership, likes, comments, and overall engagement statistics. This act forces accounts to fade into obscurity, rending bodies and voices invisible online. It is reminiscent of the treatment of sex workers since the dawn of the World Wide Web, and a tactic used against nearly every sex worker with an online presence. 

The parallels between sex worker disenfranchisement and the misfortunes of the creatorspace may seem like a stretch, but the commonality lies in the overarching policing of our autonomy. The national nonprofit Decriminalize Sex Work (DSW) describes how SESTA-FOSTA “hinders freedom of expression, allowing state and federal law enforcement the discretion to judge and criminalize sexual speech.” There is no regulatory body that draws a definitive line between exploitative and consensual content, meaning the moderation of digital media is left to the hand of institutions and their growingly traditionalist values unless explicitly brand-safe and family-friendly. “Fearing prosecution, websites grow increasingly conservative about the content they allow to be posted. The burden of this censorship falls on the most marginalized and vulnerable members of our communities.”

It cannot be lost on us that lawmakers and tech oligarchs have shown a lack of discernment on their crackdowns on the internet. While sex workers are scapegoated, more and more netizens begin to face the same restrictions while navigating the web. Everyday users are experiencing takedowns due to sexually suggestive content, even if that content is of a woman wearing a bikini or a swimwear business. Platforms claim that these changes allow children to have a safer experience online, yet YouTube has been embroiled in controversy in years since the Adpocalypse over exploitative and disturbing content aimed at children, known as Elsagate.  Policywise, there has been a lack of adequately addressing human trafficking and our reproductive and healthcare rights are being actively dismantled. In fact, the same lawmakers disrupting the sex trade economy are eliminating rights for women, youth, immigrants, 2-SLGBTQ+ and BIPOC communities. 

We have yet to see tangible evidence that proves the attacks on sex workers have improved online or IRL conditions, rather, both reckless and intentional strikes against them have increased scrutiny for all.