SAN FRANCISCO — Amidst what several adult industry figures and sex workers advocates are calling an apparent ongoing crackdown on sex-related accounts on Twitter, this past weekend the social network suspended the accounts of two prominent adult platforms: ModelCentro and Clips4Sale.
Attempts to access their Twitter accounts lead to blank pages that reads “Account suspended," followed by a succint statement that "Twitter suspends accounts which violate the Twitter Rules.”
The suspensions have generated a wave of fear among the sex worker community on Twitter, which relies on the platform for promotional purposes and to communicate with each other. Unlike Facebook and Instagram, Twitter tolerates adult content, although it has had a documented history of shadowbanning sex-related accounts.
ModelCentro Responds
“We're incredibly frustrated by Twitter's increasingly arbitrary removal of adult content,” ModelCentro’s Kat Revenga told XBIZ. “We've had no communication at all from Twitter. They provided no warning, nor did they give us any reason why the accounts were shut down. There's no way to appeal, restart the accounts, or even know what others can do to prevent this.”
Revenga added that “this should frighten everyone in adult. No matter what the platform, we've erred on the side of caution with our social media content. These accounts were used to communicate with models, and to promote their work.”
As with most corporate censorship measures against adult industry companies, Revenga pointed out, the real victims are the models and sex workers.
“The people most affected by this are those who use our platforms to build businesses and communicate with fans,” Revenga said. “It's not fair to our industry, and it's certainly not fair to sex workers.”
APAG 'Concerned' About Suspensions
Alana Evans, president of the adult performers union APAG, told XBIZ that “social media account removals are always concerning for our community."
“We have seen an increase in account removals as performers have been contacting us with their deletions,” said Evans. “We are currently working with [adult marketing consultant] Amberly Rothfield to pinpoint these issues and create a meeting with Twitter executives as we have with Instagram."
APAG, Evans said, encourages performers to be mindful of Twitter’s current Terms of Service and to watch for any changes that may affect them.
“In this time with Covid keeping us at home, social media access is a lifeline, not only with our fans, but advocacy as well,” Evans concluded. “To be removed from Twitter could not only crush their careers, but also cause major harm to one’s mental health.“
Twitter does not publicly list press contacts and, unlike their competitors, has been consistently unresponsive to attempts at reaching them for comment or clarification.