Throughout the implementation of the Online Safety Act 2021, sex workers and our allies have provided consistent evidence that Australia’s eSafety framework generates tangible risks for marginalised communities.
The Draft Consolidated Industry Codes of Practice for the Online Industry (Class 1C and Class 2 Material) (the Codes) are the nal piece of regulation under the Online Safety Act left to be completed. The Codes will set rules for the way that internet services deal with class 1C and class 2 content, covering what most people would describe as ‘pornography’. However, the Codes will have wide ranging implications for other online content, including sex education and harm reduction information.
Porn performers are sex workers. Porn performers and digital content creators have alwaysbeen part of the sex worker community, both internationally and in unceded Australia. The increasing precarity of the gig economy, the emergence of new online platforms (e.g. OnlyFans) and the COVID-19 pandemic have led many ‘in-person’ sex workers to also participate in digital forms of sex work, including live camming/streaming, self-produced and distributed adult content creation, and studio-produced porn.
