A Sex Worker on the Impact of the Online Safety Act
Words: Maedb Joy
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(For the purpose and context of this article, I used gendered language when referring to sex workers - because of the way Meta targets femme presenting bodies - but all genders partake in sex work).
It’s the end of June 2025, and the private Insta story of every sex worker I know looks a little like: “What the fuck I have uploaded this photo 10 times and it is still getting rejected?!” or “My ass is my greatest asset, how am I meant to sell that if I can’t even show it?”.
These are responses to new regulations enforced by Ofcom which mean that you cannot upload any pictures online with “intent to seduce”. Initially adopted by Instagram, in what we once thought was a Meta- hates-sex-workers battle, now adhered to even by escort websites that have been specifically built to host and advertise adult content.
5 days later, another sex worker's story showed a screenshot that stated that their username was too seductive: “Wow so you can’t even have sexy usernames anymore?!”, the caption read. “I hope the MPs behind this are ready to reimburse me for the new work photos I now need to fund,” a different person wrote.
In the last few weeks, three sex workers in my immediate community have had their Instagrams deleted, effective immediately with no chance to appeal – and two other sex workers have had their bank accounts closed down without any explanation.
Our Sexquisite (sex worker artist community) chat is active all hours of the day, everyone speculating on what is happening, and why - constantly exchanging tips about how to stay platformed and safe.
Ivy Maddox, an internationally renowned pornstar who was deleted recently at over 50k followers tells me “I was following the rules! I was being a good girl - what the fuck no warning - I just wake up and my entire income is jeopardised, I don’t think you realise what it feels like til it happens to you”.
Other workers in the group who have been deplatformed report intense feelings of depression, saying things like: “I want to lock myself away”, and “I may as well give it all up”.
Many sex workers use social media to promote their services, alongside living with dual identities, using Instagram as a portfolio to promote their creative work. Living in the UK under this recession currently requires 5+ jobs, so it is no surprise that many of us also are: workshop facilitators, performers for queer nightlife, podcasters, run events, writers and more. Alongside that a high portion of the sex work community use sex work to fund a creative career.
Now, we risk erasure in a digital era that demands you exist online; to make money, achieve exposure, build and find community, the list goes on.
The Online Safety Act, originally passed in 2023, is now having a seismic impact as the July 2025 compliance deadline (for age verification) approaches. Platforms must implement new rules, or face devastating consequences. Regulated by Ofcom, companies can be fined up to £18 million or 10% of global turnover for non-compliance.
The act enforces the following:
Ban on "content with intent to seduce" – especially targeting nudity, sexual posing, or suggestive language, even if not explicit.
Age verification for adult content – anyone accessing sexual content online must verify their age via facial recognition, ID or online banking.
Platforms must prevent under-18s from seeing adult content – or face fines of up to £18 million or 10% of global revenue.
Automatic moderation and content scanning – platforms are encouraged to use AI to proactively detect and remove "risky" content. There is no appeal system required, accounts can be deleted without warning or the right to challenge. Platforms can also scan messages for mentions of child sex abuse; although AI is not intelligent enough to differentiate from different language surrounding sex, so messaging about sex can lead to account removal.
"Duty of care" applies to all platforms – even adult sites now fall under Ofcom regulation and must comply or shut down.
Devised supposedly with good intentions, the Online Safety Act was implemented in a battle to fight child sexual abuse and grooming. But as a survivor of child sexual abuse, which originated from being specifically targeted and groomed online: I have to tell you that it had EVERYTHING to do with the weird man sending me a friend request on Facebook, and nothing to do with hot girls trying to pay rent.
It’s no coincidence that the MPs backing the Online Safety Act are the same ones who’ve long waged war on the sex industry. In 2020, Labour MP Sarah Champion wrote a letter to the Home Secretary urging them not to support sex worker–led charities with public funds during the pandemic, claiming that doing so would mean “supporting pimps” and perpetuating exploitation. It’s always the same story: anti–sex work feminists pretending to protect us, while actively working to erase us.
The truth of it is, is that unless you are able to solve poverty, increase access to housing, better support for single mothers, create career pathways for anyone trying to make a life for themselves from a lower income background; that sex work will always exist. For me it was my ticket out of selling my time per hour, for always less than London living wage, and trying to achieve my dreams (writing + performing), whilst living in London and still being unable to afford to live in the borough I grew up in due to gentrification.
Alongside all of this, I live with a disability. I am a complex survivor of sexual abuse - the things that happened to me resulted in a combined 37+ years of imprisonment for the men who harmed me. I live with Complex PTSD, the product of a series of traumatic events that all unfolded over a few consecutive years.
Selling sex has allowed me to survive on my own terms. To work in bursts and live off savings. To build a life where I am my own boss, where I work for myself; and from bed if I need to.
“Sex work has given me access to a kind of freedom, flexibility, and stability that no other industry has ever offered me.”
I also believe that sexual abuse survivors should not be forced into sexual situations as a means to fund a trauma response that prevents them from maintaining a regular job. However, in an age where the government is cutting disability support rather than increasing it, I and many others are left with little other option. Alongside that the allowable amount that you can claim for criminal compensation has been decreased, with a complex survivor recently only winning £10 for years of abuse faced in a children's home.
The impact of the Online Safety Act on our community is beyond devastating, and it will have a severe impact on Full Service Sex Workers. Under these new rules, sex workers are being told they can no longer advertise their bodies - but are required to upload headshots to escort websites instead. For many, having their face publicly associated with sex work comes with real-world consequences: the loss of other employment opportunities, denial of housing, family rejection, and even international travel bans. In the U.S, facial recognition systems are used to identify sex workers at borders with people banned for up to ten years for doing full-service work.
Upon speaking to my community about the likely impact of the Online Safety Act, it quickly became apparent that everyone was already impacted.
Emily, a 24-year-old sex worker, tells me: “It’s pushing all my friends into overworking. They’re scared they’ll stop getting clients and all their income will vanish. People are seeing back-to-back clients, not screening properly. It’s unsafe but they feel like they have no choice.”
This lines up with a conversation I had with Millie, who said:
“I’m worried there’ll be fewer clients in general either because the site has less traffic or because my photos aren’t sexy enough. So I’m becoming more reliant on regulars, including ones I don’t really like.”
She adds, “Why don’t they go after the weirdos on Instagram and TikTok, the ones who make creepy comments or the parents turning their kids into child influencers? Why are they coming for us, when we are deeply uninterested in interacting with kids in any way?”
When sex workers are banned from advertising services online, we’re pushed into selling sex on premises - in brothels, strip clubs, or even on the street. But working under establishments often comes at a cost: exploitative bosses who’ve never done sex work themselves, profiting from our labour while offering little in return. In these spaces, where the ratio of workers to clients is high, we’re forced into competition. Clients haggle our rates, pit us against each other, and dangle money in front of us, knowing full well they have the upper hand.
The crackdown in the UK on sex positivity, sex work, and porn under the guise of protecting children is not isolated. This article is written the same week Sweden officially banned OnlyFans creators from selling custom videos, and follows increasing restrictions in the US, where porn has now effectively been banned or heavily restricted in 10 states, including Florida, Texas, and Utah, through age-verification laws and financial censorship (which looks like payment processors refusing to work with adult websites, due to legal implications).
It’s unsettling to witness the unprecedented rise in global censorship, an attempt to prevent the sex industry from operating under the pretence of protection; and to penalise us for the ways we have often been forced to live our lives under capitalism.
It feels as if we have gone back in time. Punished and flagged for not adhering to community guidelines. Forced to be out, and paraded round the town. Shamed for our sexuality, and then burned at the stake.
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Maedb Joy is a multi-disciplinary artist and community organiser from London. She is the founder of Sexquisite Events, a performing arts company platforming sex worker artists, and co-founder of Riot Party, a national queer, sex-positive rave. Her work is rooted in the belief that art and entertainment are powerful tools for societal change.
A three-time winner at the Sexual Freedom Awards – recognised for Riot, Sexquisite, and Writer of the Year – Maedb is currently spearheading the UK’s first official national celebration of Sex Worker Pride, as well as developing an autobiographical television drama based on her lived experience.
She also hosts The Sexquisite Podcast, now in its first season, which centres sex worker stories in a socio-political context – exploring identity, activism, and who the community are beyond the job.
