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Non-consensual sharing of images: Commercial Content Creators, sexual content creation platforms and the lack of protection

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posted on 2023-05-15, 15:53 authored by Teela SandersTeela Sanders, Gaynor Trueman, Kate Worthington, Rachel KeighleyRachel Keighley

In this article, we explore the experiences of commercial content creators who have their content (videos, photos, and images) misused. This article reports from a mixed-methods study consisting of 16 interviews with content creators; nine interviews with practitioners who support sex workers and interviews with seven adult service website (ASW) operators. These qualitative data are supported by 221 responses to a survey from the content creators’ community. We describe how content creators experience blackmail, threats of exposure and recording without knowledge, stalking, harassment, doxing, ‘deepfakes’ and impersonation. We conclude that the online sex work environment may not be as safe as previous research has demonstrated, and that commercial content creators are often ignored by governance and platforms following sex workers’ complaints regarding their content being misused. We reflect on the forthcoming UK Online Safety Bill as compared to the US Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act/Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (SESTA/FOSTA) law which have seen implications across the globe for digital sex workers. We offer solutions for ASWs to act more responsibly. 

History

Author affiliation

School of Criminology, University of Leicester

Version

  • VoR (Version of Record)

Published in

New Media and Society

Publisher

SAGE Publications

issn

1461-7315

Copyright date

2023

Available date

2023-05-15

Language

en

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