Abstract
The Internet is American examines how women sex workers use self-portraits as political protest and visual activism in response to online oppression, censorship, and the rise of fascist ideologies on social media. Since the enactment of SESTA-FOSTA in 2018, which intensified the marginalisation of sex workers globally, these activists have developed visual strategies to resist de-platforming and reclaim digital spaces. These laws, alongside patriarchal algorithms, align with fascist efforts to regulate bodies and suppress sexual autonomy. This paper argues that censorship has led to innovative visual tactics, drawing on codes of femininity from fashion, art, advertising, and influencer culture. These strategies reflect an evolving landscape of sex work visual culture, where individuals and communities push back against the gentrification of the Internet, which increasingly pushes sex work back into invisibility. The power of these self-portraits lies in their creation, circulation, and resistance to censorship. Sex worker visual activism, particularly through selfies, challenges social norms and asserts the right to exist online. Beyond traditional labour rights protests, these images represent a fight for digital presence against hegemonies and fascist ideologies that aim to control marginalised identities. The rise of far-right movements on social media parallels SESTA-FOSTA, with both working to silence sex workers through harassment and algorithmic exclusion. Through selfies, sex workers reclaim agency and defy authoritarian impulses that seek to erase them. Their visual activism not only confronts censorship but also resists the fascist agenda of exclusion, asserting their right to exist and thrive in digital spaces worldwide.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2025 Special Focus—From Democratic Aesthetics to Digital Culture
KEYWORDS
Sex Workers, Selfies, Censorship, Far-Right Ideologies, Social Media, Digital Resistance
