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I can’t tell you how many people *who work full-time in online porn or tech policy* couldn’t answer these questions for me. Suuuper hyped to dig in! https://twitter.com/sunnymegatron/status/1334579431193649153
Our story of online sex censorship begins in 1973, Miller v California. Miller was mailing fliers to ppl inviting them to visit his sex toy store. Ppl complained they were obscene. A 5-4 Supreme Court decision defined obscenity via the 3-pronged “Miller test.”
Speech labeled “obscene” isn’t protected by the First Amendment. Criteria for obscenity: 1. Would the average person using contemporary community standards find the work as a whole appeals to prurient interests. 2. Depicts patently offensive sex as defined by applicable state law
3. Does the work as a whole lack literary, artistic, political, etc. value.
Extremely subjective criteria.
Then the internet happened during the Clinton admin, and internet pron flourished. To be followed by Bush part deux, who set up a task force to crack down.
Extremely subjective criteria.
Then the internet happened during the Clinton admin, and internet pron flourished. To be followed by Bush part deux, who set up a task force to crack down.
Lawyer named Paul Cambria who worked for pornographers came up w the Cambria List of sex acts that might get you arrested for obscenity. Included super benign acts like facials, BDSM, spitting, food play, coffins, blindfolds, wax dripping, etc.
This is 2001! Recommends against two girls sharing a dick or one girl being fingered by two men. No bi sex. No trans performers. Man fuck the Bush Admin. What a bunch of shitbags.
Recommends against white women and Black men. Not interracial. It’s specific. These are recommendations to help porn producers avoid prosecution by Bush’s Obscenity Prosecution Task Force.
The task force indicted Family Business producer, Seymour Butts. Pornographer Max Hardcore went to prison.
Today the payment processors are the choke point for online speech. Websites are afraid payment processors will drop them if they come close to violating obscenity laws or don’t fully comply with 2257 requirements (which establish that porn performers are citizens and of age).
So that’s why Patreon kicks off pornographers and Zoom prohibits orgies and Fetlife won’t allow scat play and you can’t pretend to be a vampire while doing phone sex on Niteflirt. It’s the payment processors.
