The Creator Economy, Sex Workers & Internet Censorship Laws
A month ago digital creator Hank Green took to YouTube to discuss monetization on platforms and the creator economy – specifically dissecting the way TikTok pays out creators in comparison to other platforms. The video, “Soo… TikTok Sucks” brought to the public a conversation about uniting internet creators to work together to push platforms to do better for their creator communities, both backend support wise and monetarily.
As I watched Hanks video, I agreed alongside points he was making, which included a brief acknowledgement of unfair community guideline applications and censorship for creators. It wasn’t until Hank was discussing all the various social media avenues he’s able to get directly paid out from (via ad revenue) that it hit me that my industry, most people in adult entertainment, do not get the same opportunities to monetize their social content. Despite us often producing the same type and amounts of content as mainstream or “Safe For Work” (SFW) creators.
The monetization gap between adult creators and mainstream ones was one I’ve been existing in since I entered the industry, but to see Hank Green lay it all out there like that, it really made me understand how big that gap just is. So I made this video as an addendum reply to the conversation Hank is continuing by adding why I believe that digital creators who are sex workers should not only be included, but prioritized when talking about the creator economy and monetization online.
The Creator Economy and Sex Work
In this video I cover…
- algorithmic and platform discriminations for sex workers when it comes to monetizing social channels
- how technology for making money online AND the hype around the digital creator market was pioneered by sex workers
- why internet creators should be caring about adult industry related legislature, and fighting with us when it comes to unequal earning opportunities online
- how bills like SESTA/FOSTA and the upcoming Earn It Act are purposefully broadened to end encryption online for EVERYONE, but specifically target, silence and harm marginalized people on the internet
The Creator Economy and Sex Workers Sources
Hanks Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAZapFzpP64&t=109s
Sex Work Censorship Articles
Tumblr’s porn ban could devastate many who make a living as cam models- https://www.salon.com/2018/12/04/tumblrs-porn-ban-could-devastate-thousands-who-make-a-living-as-cam-models/
HOW THE SOCIAL MEDIA CENSORSHIP OF SEX WORKERS AFFECTS US ALL- https://www.mtv.com/news/3143241/sex-work-censorship-effects/
Instagram’s problem with sex workers is nothing new – https://www.dazeddigital.com/science-tech/article/51515/1/instagram-problem-with-sex-workers-is-nothing-new-censorship
Sex workers fear violence as US cracks down on online ads: ‘Girls will die’ – https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/apr/10/sex-workers-fear-violence-as-us-cracks-down-on-online-ads-girls-will-die
Twitter Has Started Blocking Porn in Germany – https://www.wired.com/story/twitter-porn-block-germany-age-verification/
OnlyFans Creators and Sex Workers Are Getting ‘Purged’ from TikTok – https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/onlyfans-sex-workers-tiktok-purge-banned-1101928/
After Craigslist personals go dark, sex workers fear what’s next – https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/10/health/sex-workers-craigslist-personals-trafficking-bill/index.html
‘People Are Going to Die’: Sex Workers Devastated After Backpage Shutdown – https://www.newsweek.com/people-are-going-die-sex-workers-devastated-after-backpage-shutdown-876486
Instagram Is Punishing Users by Taking Away Their Link Stickers- https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7vqaa/instagram-is-punishing-users-by-taking-away-their-link-stickers
Sex workers are being booted off the ‘link in bio’ platform, Linktree – https://mashable.com/article/sex-workers-linktree-ban
PayPal and Venmo are Shutting Out Sex Workers, Putting Lives and Livelihoods at Risk – https://www.aclu.org/news/lgbtq-rights/paypal-and-venmo-are-shutting-out-sex-workers-putting-lives-and-livelihoods-at-risk/
Why Apple plays China’s censorship game – https://mashable.com/article/apple-censorship-china
The Internet, Tech & Pornography Articles
Jennicam: The first woman to stream her life on the internet – https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-37681006
Jennifer Ringly, Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Ringley
The history of camming, from early cam girls to modern day live cam sites – https://www.dailydot.com/nsfw/guides/cam-girls/
How Pornographers Invented E-Commerce – https://www.businessinsider.com/the-producer-of-middle-men-talks-to-us-about-how-pornographers-invented-e-commerce-2010-8
Censorship and the Creator Economy
This is the impact of Instagram’s accidental fat-phobic algorithm – https://www.fastcompany.com/90415917/this-is-the-impact-of-instagrams-accidental-fat-phobic-algorithm
We Must Get Racism Out of Automated Decision-Making – https://www.aclu.org/news/racial-justice/we-must-get-racism-out-of-automated-decision-making/
SESTA-FOSTA Articles
A new law intended to curb sex trafficking threatens the future of the internet as we know it – https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/4/13/17172762/fosta-sesta-backpage-230-internet-freedom
Congress’ awful anti-sex trafficking law has only put sex workers in danger and wasted tax payer money – https://www.businessinsider.com/fosta-sesta-anti-sex-trafficking-law-has-been-failure-opinion-2019-7
The Real Story of the Bipartisan Anti–Sex Trafficking Bill That Failed Miserably on Its Own Terms – https://newrepublic.com/article/162823/sex-trafficking-sex-work-sesta-fosta
FOSTA-SESTA was supposed to thwart sex trafficking. Instead, it’s sparked a movement – https://whyy.org/segments/fosta-sesta-was-supposed-to-thwart-sex-trafficking-instead-its-sparked-a-movement/
SESTA-FOSTA is ‘detrimental’ to sex workers’ safety, study confirms – https://www.dailydot.com/irl/sesta-fosta-report-sex-work/
The New War on Porn: How Moral Crusaders, Mainstream Media and Politicians Are Gunning for XXX – https://www.xbiz.com/news/256588/the-new-war-on-porn-how-moral-crusaders-mainstream-media-and-politicians-are-gunning-for-xxx
Sex, lies, and surveillance: Something’s wrong with the war on sex trafficking – https://www.engadget.com/2019-05-31-sex-lies-and-surveillance-fosta-privacy.html
From eBay to OnlyFans, Trump’s anti-sex internet crusade is silencing LGBTQ culture – https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/ebay-onlyfans-trump-s-anti-sex-internet-crusade-silencing-lgbtq-ncna1278927
Sexual freedom is at risk from these damning new bills passed by Congress – https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/29/sexual-freedom-fosta-sosta
Free speech restrictions on social media could squash harm reduction and addiction recovery efforts – https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/politics/584424-free-speech-restrictions-on-social-media-could-squash-harm
What you need to know about trans rights in a new era – https://www.uuworld.org/articles/trans-rights-new-era
The EARN IT Act is back and ready to destroy Section 230 – https://www.dailydot.com/debug/the-earn-it-act-is-back-and-ready-to-destroy-section-230/
A bill aiming to protect children online reignites a battle over privacy and free speech – https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/02/10/senators-earn-it-privacy-children-safety/
Over 60 Human Rights/Public Interest Groups Urge Congress To Drop EARN IT Act – https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20220209/11582848442/over-60-human-rights-public-interest-groups-urge-congress-to-drop-earn-it-act.shtml
EARN IT Act lawmaker finally admits the bill is targeting encryption – https://www.inputmag.com/culture/earn-it-act-lawmaker-admits-bill-is-targeting-encryption
How The EARN IT Act Is Significantly More Dangerous Than FOSTA – https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20220203/18143448411/how-earn-it-act-is-significantly-more-dangerous-than-fosta.shtml
Activists, Writers, and Security Experts All Oppose the EARN IT Act – https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/02/activists-writers-and-security-experts-all-oppose-earn-it-act
!!!!!!!!!! CONTACT YOUR SENATORS!!!!!!!!!!!
https://act.eff.org/action/stop-the-earn-it-act-to-save-our-privacy
Additional Resources
https://www.acceptancematters.org/
Debunking Porn Addiction and the Anti-Porn Movement resources: https://gwenadora.com/porn-consumption-porn-addiction-and-the-anti-porn-movement/
Industry Advocates and Experts
Kate Sinclaire, a filmmaker/pornographer and media literacy advocate. https://twitter.com/MsKateSinclaire
Gustavo Turner, a journalist in the adult industry who specializes in writing about/debunking anti-prn, anti-sex work organizations, and campaigns. https://twitter.com/GustavoTurnerX
Dr. Nicole Prause, a neuroscientist specializing in sexual response and mental health. https://twitter.com/NicoleRPrause
Kate D’Adamo, sex worker rights activist. https://twitter.com/KateDAdamo
Noelle Perdue, porn historian and artist. https://www.instagram.com/all_day_breakfast_/
- https://twitter.com/MsOeming
- https://twitter.com/mikestabile
- https://twitter.com/DrSprankle
- https://twitter.com/thotscholar
- https://twitter.com/CathyReisenwitz
- https://twitter.com/samleecole
- https://twitter.com/DrHeatherBerg
- https://twitter.com/AshleyLatke
- https://twitter.com/PornStudies
- https://twitter.com/missmarymoody
