OAKLAND, Calif. — Independent news outlet Prism published a report today highlighting how sex workers and sex educators are leading the call for clearer rules for online engagement, to prevent censorship and erasure.
Prism, an independent and nonprofit news outlet focused on “justice for people and communities who are historically oppressed,” published the piece by New Mexico-based social justice journalist Umme Hoque illustrating the many ways in which “platforms actively ban, block and penalize topics and posts related to sex and sensuality, leading to deplatforming and harming sex workers.”
Hoque interviewed a sexuality doula who had to resort to euphemisms and weird characters like “s-xuality doula® ? s-x educator” on Instagram in order to promote her service.
“I had to reposition and rethink the way I express myself on the platform when talking about sex,” doula Ev’Yan Whitney told Prism. “I’ve had to batten down the hatches, dull my voice and expression; I don’t want to lose the community and platform helping me to spread this education.”
Hoque also pointed out how FOSTA-SESTA had endangered sex workers who used online platforms to keep safe and in contact with their community.
“Instead of reducing sex trafficking, the bills give online platforms the power to actively censor users and claim it’s because the content is indecent,” Hoque wrote. "The impacts were immediate. Platforms like Craigslist and Reddit removed content where escorts and other sex workers were sharing information before the law even went into effect. Some digital lists and tips, like ‘bad dates lists’ and safety sites like ‘VerifyHim’ were gone immediately.”
Hoque gave an overview of the financial discrimination and online censorship faced by a variety of sex workers.
“With the power in the hands of big tech companies, the injustices continue and translate offline to safety risks and loss of livelihoods and lives,” the Prism article argued. “Some sex workers like stripper Janis Luna noted on a podcast that within a week of FOSTA-SESTA passing, more sex workers had gone missing from their local communities. Sex workers and advocates have also reported increases in attacks, suicide and self-harm.”
Although Hoque praised the proposed SAFE SEX Workers Study Act, the article concluded with a plea that “more needs to be done to truly address the challenges sex educators and especially sex workers face, including full decriminalization of sex work.”
To read “Sex Workers Say Legislation Is Needed to Prevent Censorship on Online Platforms,” visit PrismReports.org.