Bettie Bondage, a queer Puerto Rican dominatrix, had her Facebook and Instagram accounts suspended more than half a dozen times this past year. Gender queer Filipinx educator, activist, and sex worker Mia Little had their Instagram permanently disabled twice without notice last year. For many adult industry entertainers, artists, and activists, losing access to these large social networks has become increasingly common.
Now, Facebook has gone so far as to explicitly outline its supremely staunch position on the use of “suggestive emojis” to solicit sexual communication — which means the days of using cartoon eggplants and peaches in your thirst trap mirror selfies are most likely numbered. Instagram representative Stephanie Otway clarified in an email that the company is taking action only on emojis “used alongside an implicit or indirect ask for nude imagery, sex or sexual partners, or sex chat conversations.
In response, the adult industry has focused on creating and investing in its own platforms that allow users to share content and build community. Adult Video News, which could be considered “the Academy” of porn, recently launched a social network that has similar functionality to Twitter, but also provides a way for performers to charge money for access to their explicit content.
But the strategy of further privatizing the internet seems an unsatisfactory, and most likely unsustainable, solution to this existential crisis of free speech. The first amendment is more “American” than a baseball baked inside of an apple pie, but it simply does not apply to private companies. Online speech may soon only exist on platforms owned by private companies who have the power to silence whomever they wish.