The Internet owes a lot to sex workers. Technological artefacts have always been adopted early on by sex workers who sought ways to generate income in societies that criminalise their work and discriminate against them in multiple ways. Even though sex workers benefit from new technologies (providing new income streams, helping sex workers set up boundaries with clients etc.), the actual and potential benefits are heavily compromised by the weaponisation of the same technologies by the police, governments and private actors which often justify their actions by pitting ‘common good considerations’ against the health and safety needs of sex workers. This attitude is ever more clear during times of crisis as we have seen the attacks against the right to speech and self-expression and the right to work have intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic, during which governments increased surveillance practices considerably using new technologies such as AI.

The session aims to present and discuss with the audience the key issues, needs and demands of people offering digitalised or digital sex work. In particular, the audience will explore the impact of issues related to privacy, censorship, and the impact of platforms’ designs and algorithms on sex workers’ agency and safety.