Sex toy maker or seller? Kinkster? Sex educator? Harm reduction worker? Nude photographer? User of a dating app? Tantric bodyworker? Sex worker of any sort? Porn studio? Or maybe you just like to consensually send nudes of your of-legal-age self to someone who is also of legal age?
Here’s some more info to help you take action now that FOSTA (States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act), SESTA (Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act), and CLOUD (Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act) have passed. (If you haven’t heard about CLOUD, you might want to read this.)
It’s not FOSTA/SESTA alone that’s the problem — with CLOUD having been added, it’s important to switch to technological services from countries that don’t have an MLAT with the United States. (If that last sentence was confusing, you’ll want to stay tuned for my recommendations and how-tos for secure tech services and tools; expect to see that published in a few more days. [Edit 5/14/2018: my suggestions are now up.]
WHAT WE HAVE LOST
The #SurvivorsAgainstSesta page is, among other things, documenting the various actions that tech companies have taken, such as “change in terms of service, censorship, shutdown, notification.” As of 4/11/2018, the list doesn’t seem to have been recently updated.
Tara Burns also has a smaller list of closures, but as of 4/28/2018, it hasn’t been updated since 4/14/2018.
Thankfully, The Dr. Sue Review has been providing daily updates (most recent update today, 4/28/2018) about websites and services that have shut down, as well as websites and services that will ban sex work (and sometimes other “questionable”) accounts.
WHAT TO AVOID
Liara Roux is very thoroughly live documenting legal discrimination against sex workers. This details which social media sites, payment options, hotel chains, and other resources are known to discriminate against sex workers, sex toy companies, and others in various sex-related industries. There are over 100 listings of “individual companies, institutions, and discrete products” covered in this live doc.
WHAT WE STILL HAVE
Alternatives to the websites and services we have lost, by The Dr. Sue Review. (I’ll have more about my recommendations for tech services in A FOSTA/SESTA/CLOUD Guide to Actionable Resources, Part 2: My Technical Suggestions; expect to see that published in a few more days.)
KEEP GETTING PAID
Miss Freudian Slit has a guide to sex work approved payment options. Important news from The Dr. Sue Review about First Choice Pay, First Choice, Payoneer and Paxum.
SEX WORKER COMMUNITY REPORT
“This form is to help compile an understanding of the impact of SESTA/FOSTA on our community. It is for reporting instances of impacted safety. This is an encrypted form and data will not be supplied to governments, law enforcement, or the media. It is being compiled by The Institute for the Study of Criminalized Sex.”
TAKE ACTION: LEARN
Subscribe to the Global Network of Sex Work Projects (NSWP) newsletter to keep up with the latest news impacting sex workers around the world.
Get informed about sex work and human trafficking. Mistress Matisse wrote a deeply informative Blogspot post, This is what I think about the sex work/ sex trafficking controversy, followed by a lot of links for further background and education.
Marijke Vonke makes her third appearance in this resource guide with her very detailed piece, The Myth of Trafficking.
The Best Practices Policy Project has a shorter, but extremely pertinent post, Who will be harmed by this “Sex Trafficking” Legislation?
Learn how FOSTA and SESTA will ultimately impact a great many more people than the supposed human trafficking targets. Seriously, if you choose to read anything, head on over to Engadget, where Violet Blue has written, Congress just legalized sex censorship: What to know. This article and the links contained therein explain how the law’s censorship of the internet reaches far beyond human trafficking and sex workers.
Read this other piece by Marijke Vonk for a wonderful explanation of why everyone should care about the rights of sex workers. Hint: it’s because sex worker rights are basic human rights which most folks don’t want to lose.
As Kitty Stryker pointed out in Craiglist Shuts Down Personals, Cites FOSTA, “You know where we’ve seen this sort of ‘for the public good’ censorship of ‘deviant sex’ before? Weimar Berlin.”
Start to get to know sex workers and their desires by reading work written by current sex workers — start with Aiding Those Still in the Industry and its companion piece, Aiding Those Leaving the Industry, both by Lori Adorable.
Learn how to be a true sex worker ally; start with guidance from How to Support Sex Workers by Marijke Vonk and How to be an Ally to Sex Workers by SWOP-Chicago.
TAKE ACTION: PARTICIPATE
Assist with events for International Sex Workers’ Rights Day (annually on March 3rd), International Sex Workers Day (annually on June 2nd), and International Day to Prevent Violence Against Sex Workers (annually on December 17th).
Make your objection toward SESTA and your support of sex worker rights known. They’re coming for sex workers first, so while this impacts all of us as a free speech issue, it’s important to center sex workers during this dangerous time.
Keep checking in with the sex workers you know. Show them you appreciate them in ways you might not have thought to before: let them know you’re fighting for them with more than just words — provide emotional support when appropriate. Personally, I know a lot of sex workers right now who could really use some donated hours of administrative and technical assistance due to FOSTA/SESTA fall out.
TAKE ACTION: USE YOUR MONEY
Have one or more favorite sex workers? Book sessions, purchase shows or clips, and hit up their wish lists. Be generous.
Offer to pay for administrative and technical assistance for your favorite sex worker(s) so they can get help with backing up online presences and transferring data offshore, etc. (I’ll have more about my recommendations for this in A FOSTA/SESTA/CLOUD Guide to Actionable Resources, Part 2: My Technical Suggestions; expect to see that published in a few more days.)
Financially contribute to Tits and Sass, journalism written by and for sex workers.
Buy (directly from the publisher) and of course, read, $pread: The Best of the Magazine that Illuminated the Sex Industry and Started a Media Revolution.
Donate, donate, donate, to: Amara Legal Center, Atlanta Harm Reduction Coalition, Best Practices Policy Project, Black Sex Worker Collective, Desiree Alliance, Espler Project, Inc., HIPS, Red Light Legal, Red Umbrella Project, San Francisco Bay Area Sex Worker Film & Arts Festival, St. James Infirmary Clinic, Sex Workers Education Network, Sex Workers Outreach Project (USA — there are many branches within the USA, too), SWOP Behind Bars, and US PROStitutes Collective.
Don’t forget to check out my recommendations and how-to guides for secure tech services, tools, and best practices. These are going to be free webinars, guides, and training sessions. More info here. [Edit 5/14/2018: my suggestions are now up.]
