Woodhull Freedom Foundation Urges FTC to Address Online Censorship of Sex Workers in Tech Inquiry
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — May 21, 2025 — Washington, DC
The Woodhull Freedom Foundation, a leading advocate for sexual freedom and human rights, today submitted a formal comment to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) urging the agency to recognize and address the extensive online censorship faced by sex workers. This action comes in response to the FTC’s recent inquiry into technology platforms’ content moderation and the denial or degradation of users’ access to services based on speech or affiliations.
“Sex workers have long been vanguards of technological innovation, from pioneering the internet as a global marketplace to adopting cryptocurrency in response to discrimination from traditional financial institutions,” said Ricci Levy, President and CEO of the Woodhull Freedom Foundation. “Despite their foundational role in building the internet, sex workers continue to face relentless censorship-even when engaging in legal activities online.”
The Foundation’s submission highlights the irony and injustice of sex workers being silenced in the very virtual world they helped create. Woodhull has spent over two decades fighting such censorship as part of its broader mission to defend sexual freedom as a fundamental human right.
The FTC’s inquiry, while ostensibly aimed at addressing online censorship, raises concerns across the political spectrum regarding its approach. The Foundation points to Supreme Court precedent, including last year’s NetChoice v. Paxton and Moody v. NetChoice rulings, affirming that content moderation by technology platforms is protected under the First Amendment. “The FTC cannot use consumer protection or antitrust law to sidestep platforms’ constitutionally protected rights regarding what content they do or do not publish,” Levy stated.
The Foundation also expressed concerns about the politicization of the FTC under the current administration, referencing recent actions by President Trump, including the firing of two Democratic Commissioners and the passage of the Take It Down Act. “While the Government may seek to manipulate the law and the FTC, the Constitution still stands as a safeguard against government overreach,” said Levy.
Woodhull’s comment draws on its experience as the lead plaintiff in a federal challenge to SESTA/FOSTA, legislation that has resulted in unprecedented censorship of internet speech and has disproportionately harmed sex workers. The Foundation also funded groundbreaking research by Dr. Samantha Majic and Dr. Melissa Ditmore at John Jay College, which documented the devastating impact of deplatforming sex workers in the wake of SESTA/FOSTA.
The peer-reviewed study, “440 Sex Workers Cannot Be Wrong: Engaging and Negotiating Online Platform Power,” found that fear of legal liability led online platforms to ban sex workers en masse, restricting their ability to earn income and compromising their safety.
“Our evidence is clear: giving the government more power to make content moderation decisions jeopardizes freedom of expression and violates the First Amendment,” Levy concluded. “The FTC must heed the lessons of SESTA/FOSTA and ensure that its actions do not further endanger the rights and livelihoods of sex workers or any other marginalized communities online.”
Read Woodhull’s comment here.
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