Censored to Death: When Safety Laws Become a Weapon Against Sex Workers

Photo by Evgeny Ozerov from Unsplash

Whenever I’m discussing the topic of sex worker censorship with the general public, there is one common question I get. “But what about protecting children from accessing pornography?” Truth be told, this question enrages me. Not because I think that minors should have access to porn. But because the internet was never supposed to be a playground for kids.

What was once the virtual world full of opportunities to learn, connect and yes, work, is now becoming a sterile place that censors voices who don’t fit the bill. If you’re a sex worker, sex or kink educator or an LGBTQIA+ activist — tough luck because you’re suddenly nothing but a threat to children. If you even try to promote your services or educate people on sexuality and gender, you risk being shadowbanned, your post deleted or even worse — your whole account suspended.

Before we dive deeper into the topic of online censorship, we should take a look at who benefits from it the most. First of all, those are authoritarian governments who still uphold strict beliefs that have been influenced by Christianity. Second — the big tech companies. They just loooove to get as much data about you as possible to make money from it later. But that’s not all. We also have moral crusader lobby groups who push their anti-sex work, anti-LGBTQIA+ and…