Yes, and there are larger questions:
1. Who benefits from porn stigma? Who is hurt?
2. What are the practical effects of every push to further regulate porn?
3. How does monopoly tech, specifically, benefit from stigmatizing porn? https://twitter.com/brokep/status/1348677840322093058
Yes, porn is speech for free speech purposes. More specifically it is art (a consensual, intentional act, creation or expression of one or more persons with the intent of it being viewed by another consenting person).
Note "consent". Under this definition "revenge porn", child abuse, etc are not "porn". When discussing porn we have to do so within the context of consent. This concept is widely understood by adult performers and content creators in great depth, far moreso than...
... in mainstream society (that still proffers "was unconscious, but I know they wanted it" as a defense in rape trials). Language on consent is part of most contracts, client negotiations (even when camming), and is central to discussions within the industry. These are BASICS.
One of the central problems of these discussions is that they are often held by people with no understanding of those basics and are not interested in hearing from people who DO understand them. Sex workers are more reliably excluded from discussions of their wellbeing...
...and regulatory needs than any other group. When new regulation is being discussed congress calls Ashton Kutcher, churches, and anti-porn groups. SESTA/FOSTA passed Congress **unanimously** without ONE consultation reference from the group of people being "regulated".
So, who benefits?
Anti-porn groups (and anti-porn groups masquerading as anti-trafficking groups) rake in enormous donations. Groups like EC (first word exodus) take in millions with no accountability (currently under investigation), fragment and reform through subsidiaries.
It's "good politics", cementing alliances between groups like above and advertising conglomerates, media outlets, and PAC's. In '89 Pat Robertson transformed the landscape of American politics by turning his mailing list from his failed Presidential bid into...
... the Christian Coalition, the first Super-PAC the world had seen. Moral indignation politics is more powerful (especially on the right) than policy or promises. It can galvanize enormous power quickly, and Puritanism has proven very effective there.
Stigmatizing sex work in general and sex workers specifically does not reduce the amount of full-service work and porn within a society (dozens of studies on this). It does, however, directly limit the degree to which sex workers can socially, financially, and politically unify.
There are many people who benefit from this: pimps (who don't exist when sex workers are safe and can operate independently), exploitative platforms (who benefit from SW's having very limited options, thus little leverage), people whose sexual repression is easily threatened...
... but most especially abusive men and predators. Men who buy sexual services and content who do not want their spouses able to do the same. Cops that threaten jail if they don't get a freebie. Serial abusers go from 1 victim to next because the reporting tools....
... that SW's use to inform others of that dangerous client get shut down, siezed, banned before they start.
And then there's the REALLY dark stuff. There are child abusers, rapists, and yes, serial killers who hide among and prey upon sex workers...
... SPECIFICALLY because they are stigmatized, isolated, and reliably have their communications networks disrupted.
Note that this problem is highly asymmetrical: sites or apps for reporting bad clients get taken down in weeks, if not days...
... but sites for "rating" sex workers, even doxxing them, run OPENLY for years without interruption.
Also consider that sex trafficking, child abduction/abuse, and serial predators are most reliably caught with cooperation from the consensual SW community.
When BackPage got taken down (adult personal listings) for SESTA/FOSTA the FBI *screamed* about not being consulted, as it was integral to tracking movements of specific predators & groups in cooperation with the SW community...
... who were also using it to track & report dangerous clients & possible victims.
So, who benefits? Anyone who:
- uses moral indignation to gain money/power
- benefits from sex workers having fewer options or independence
- needs a prey population that is essentially invisible
- would be afraid of sex workers self-policing and taking care of their own "neighborhood"

As I alluded above, every regulatory push to erase porn and sex workers has served the above agendas to the profound detriment of sex workers AND actual victims of...
...trafficking, abuse, abduction, assault, and all forms of non-consensual activity. Racketeering, kidnappers, pimps, organized crime all benefits from SW's being stigmatized.
There's another group that benefits: big tech. Countless platforms have used sex workers as undeclared beta testers and the cash they bring as starting capital, but let's isolate a few:
Paypal's initial launch was heavily subsidized by sex work activity. A few years in they started siezing accounts (and the funds they contained) with no warning, recourse, or appeal. Once PayPal became the default e-pay solution they booted the SW's, seized their $$, carried on.
OnlyFans is only the most recent platform launched by Tim Stokely that initially targeted sex workers as its prime user base (before taking their money and running). He's had six (that I know of), most notably Customs4U, which processed money through a black market bank in...
... Turkey, then Bank of Cyprus, then through a 3rd party prepaid credit card company. That chain made it very easy for Tim when the site went down without explanation after months of pending payouts still in the sites accounts. That $$ seeded his next platform, where...
... you guessed it, same thing happened. And again. Then... OnlyFans.
This happens to sex workers A LOT.
Giftrocket. AmazonPay/gift cards. A new financial tech launches, gets flooded with porn $$$, they seize it and boot em.
This is honestly the tip of the iceberg of the broader topic of ways in which modern society benefits from sex workers doing their thing and occasionally rising up (Stonewall started with black trans SW's) and profits from keeping them marginalized.
If you're looking for a tech challenge that could shift the entire world toward safety, equality, and inclusivity, @brokep :
Consider looking into and joining discussions on secure, safe, and stable technological tools that are openly and non-negotiably friendly to sex workers.
You can follow @MisterEAudio.
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