Anti-Sex Trafficking Law Curbs Online Sex Talk

The United Nation’s International Labour Organization estimates that almost 25 million people are victims of human trafficking, worldwide ,with close to five million victims of sexual exploitation— mostly made up of women and girls. And, even in the United States—in a country that prides itself on freedom—there are estimates of 200,000 domestic sex slaves. To assist in combating these statistics, the United States passed legislation in late March, which aims on reducing sex trafficking via the controversial Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA). The bill is part of the "(Allow States And Victims To) Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act" (FOSTA). The bill was signed May 11th, by Donald Trump, though at press time it was unclear exactly when it would be enacted, significant changes were immediately seen online.

The law makes it "...illegal to knowingly assist, facilitate or support sex trafficking" and makes websites criminally— and civilly—responsible. It amends Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which previously provided online platforms immunity from civil liability, in terms of its user content. What SESTA does, is essentially force online platforms to censor its users. While there is agreement, that the facilitation of the bill was a positive turn in protecting victims of sex trafficking, the bill was created and passed quickly, despite warnings from sex workers, advocates and various agencies (including the Department Of Justice), that the law would harm sex workers and trafficking victims by pushing activity back onto the streets and making it illegal to access information critical to keeping workers and victims safer.

"I think that the majority of the representatives who voted on the ‘Fight Online Sex Trafficking’ bill truly thought they were doing good, because they don’t listen to sex workers or advocates, who understand the direct, negative effects that these bills have," said Portland stripper and Unzipped PDX podcast host, Elle Stanger. "In order to reduce harm against marginalized people and sex workers, we must always decriminalize sex work, so that we aren’t punishing people for consensual activities, but (instead) focusing our resources and attention on those who can’t advocate for themselves."

Craigslist has removed its entire section of personal ads, along with its "casual encounters" section. And, although Microsoft didn’t attribute its recent terms of service change to FOSTA, timing says differently. The new rules, taking effect on May 1st, prohibit all nudity and "offensive language" on all Microsoft platforms—including Skype and Xbox Live.

The bill passed, overwhelmingly, with just two Senators voting against it—Republican Senator Rand Paul from Kentucky and Oregon Democratic Senator Ron Wyden.

"History shows that politicians have been remarkably bad at solving technological problems," said Wyden. "I have written laws in the past, including Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and the Internet Tax Freedom Act, that have kept politicians and special interests from sinking the internet. This bill will only prop up the entrenched players, who are rapidly losing the public’s trust. The failure to understand the technological side effects of this bill—specifically, that it will become harder to expose sex traffickers, while hamstringing innovation— will be something that this congress will regret."

The elements of 230 that previously provided websites protection from criminal and civil protection has been credited with helping to foster freedom of speech online and enabling the use of everyday apps and websites like WhatsApp, Yelp, Instagram and Wikipedia, as well as blogger comment sections.

According to nonprofit digital rights group, the Electronic Frontiers Foundation (EFF), SESTA dangerously expands criminal liability. "These terms are vague, (creating) fertile soil for new litigation," said the EFF. "Juries and courts would no longer need to be convinced that platforms knew that sex trafficking existed on their site—only that they should have known that their services were ‘facilitating’ sex trafficking. SESTA threatens the open internet. It would incentivize platforms to act as gatekeepers or over-censor what their users post. Platforms might be tempted to automate these processes. But, while filtering algorithms do exist, no filtering algorithm can detect completely legitimate speech all of the time. Legal speech will inevitably get restricted, raising concerns of private censorship."

So, how does all this effect you? Well, because of the bill’s gray areas, content you post, previously protected, could now be deemed as part of sex trafficking, resulting in online users being banned from a site or platform, leaving a window open for other potential consequences.

"If you advertise on a third-party website for legal sexual services or sexual interactions, you should be concerned," says Stanger, who holds a B.A. in Criminology from Portland State University. "Do you use Facebook or Instagram to advertise your legal dancer schedule? You might be fine. Maybe. Do you use your Facebook or Instagram to advertise your nude modeling, webcam or escorting? Stop doing that, before you get deleted. FOSTA doesn’t distinguish between consensual sexual activities and coerced or forced ones. So, it’s easier for Facebook or Instagram to delete the profile of a public sex worker, than to be slapped with a fine of $10,000 for ‘promoting prostitution.’ Sex workers tried to sway public opinion, but as usual, nobody listened to us. You should be worried. Because, when socially conservative governments make consensual touch illegal, people get hurt."

In 2017, Baylor and Western Virginia Universities published a study, stating Craigslist’s ‘erotic services’ advertisement section—and similar websites—reduced the female homicide rate by 17.4%. The study also found evidence that the section reduced the rate of female rape.