PALO ALTO, Calif. — Official Instagram and Facebook representatives have agreed to an unprecedented meeting with leaders of the Adult Performers Actors Guild (APAG), a federally recognized trade union representing adult industry performers, to discuss issues related to the social media accounts of adult performers and other sex workers.
XBIZ has received exclusive confirmation of the upcoming meeting from APAG president Alana Evans, who is currently arranging details with Instagram's public information officer Stephanie Otway.
"We are so excited for this major development," Evans told XBIZ, "and very thankful to have the opportunity to speak to the policy heads at Instagram and Facebook one on one. We’re happy to sit down and see what we can come up with to make the experience beneficial for everyone. We are so proud of every performer who joined this fight and has spoken out about losing their pages and how detrimental it has been to their livelihood."
Last month, XBIZ published "Instagram and the War on Porn: An XBIZ Explainer," where we detailed some of the central issues concerning adult performer's problems with social media censorship, discrimination and deletions.
Adult performers and other sex workers have been expressing their frustration with what they see as unfair treatment on the part of social media companies. They have pointed out multiple instances of apparent double-standard practices on the part of companies supposedly enforcing unclear Terms of Service policies.
The upcoming meeting between APAG leaders and Instagram and Facebook reps should offer an opportunity to discuss these issues, including account deletions — double-standards regarding nudity in posts, shadowbanning, etc. — frankly and openly with those companies' Public Policy teams.