About

THE GAME

Created by a team of sex workers and allies, OnlyBans is an online game about social media censorship and digital discrimination against sex workers. Assuming the role of a sex worker, players in OnlyBans attempt to establish an online fanbase and earn money through posting erotic images. Players encounter content moderation algorithms, shadow-banning, and other threats based on sex workers’ actual experiences and findings from Posting Into The Void, a report on the impact of FOSTA-SESTA by Hacking//Hustling. As players attempt to evade being censored by social media platforms and flagged by payment processors, they also encounter a supportive sex worker community, meeting peers who offer tips on mitigating platform data extraction and protecting one’s identity. OnlyBans offers a speculative vision of how marginalized communities can unite to protest these unjust policies and create better alternatives. 

BACKGROUND

Since the passage of 2018’s FOSTA/SESTA, sex workers have been denied access to social media platforms and payment processors, while increasingly becoming the subject of surveillance through facial recognition and data-scraping software. Human biases in algorithms and content moderation policies disproportionately harm sex worker communities already at greater risk of violence and incarceration. Technology meant to block sexual content has also been used globally to block unfavorable political content. This chilling effect has endangered the rights of artists, community organizers, and journalists alike. The surveillance and silencing of sex workers is merely the first step in a digital gentrification process compromising everyone’s right to privacy and free expression.

SUPPORT