Note: I was going to submit this essay and the other 2 papers to my university journal project. However, I happen to be "Too Thai" to publish my papers. The person who is in charge of this project does not want to publish more work from Thai students because our university is an international university and they need to promote the "Diversity" environment here.
Abstract
This study explored the influence of social media on prostitution. The authors examine the way sex workers use the online platform to continue their practice. The previous researches explain that the internet has been adopting the sex industry on their platforms, which could help to flourish the number of sex workers online. The authors of this case study collect data by using secondary data and interviewing with online sex workers along with normal users using the same platforms. The findings indicate that sex workers tend to choose a popular social media platform to promote their business, for example, Tinder and Twitter. The result also suggests the new way of service that is booming on the internet, which is a webcam that now feathers on porn websites. Conversely, the majority of sex workers are met with the impact of the pandemic that seems to be the cause of their financial difficulty, and so on.
Introduction
Internet technology seems to play one of the most important roles in several fields, including businesses. Many industries have moved their platform from offline to online in order to achieve higher profits and gaining benefits. This change also includes the sex industry, especially prostitution. Prostitution is often described as sexual services, commercial sex or, and colloquially (Jenkins,2020). It is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. In the modern day, dating apps and social media appear to have some effects on the increase number of online prostitution. When the internet makes things easier for sex workers to meet reach their customers. According to Lans (2016), Technology may have several effects on the contours of prostitution since an estimated 80 percent of all sales of sex now occurring online. Especially, during the Covid-19 shutdown, when virtual sex work and an online sex platform seem to be the new options for some of the workers to maintain their financial state and continue the practices. To answer the question of why the rate of prostitution has spiked up, several cases will be analyzed in this paper. The focus of this study is to examine the influence of social media on prostitution and exploring the number of online sex workers.
Literature Review
Several pieces of research and articles have approached the topic of prostitution, which focuses on the influence of social media on sex workers in varied aspects. The effect of technology and internet prostitution illustrates in Hughes’s journal “Online Prostitution (2014)”, in which social media has been adopting the sex industry and providing users with convenient access to prostitution such as, live strip and sex. The author also explains that the viewers could interact with sex workers via chat box and microphone to donate and request their preferred sexual interaction. Presumably, a majority number of the clients have selected sex workers via online agencies that provide the customers with contact, short video on sexual performance, price, and review on the sex workers by their previous clients (Farley, 2014). The Internet also offers the sex workers with opportunities than traditional street form, for example, sponsorships, fan bases, and online promoting (Cunningham, Sanders, Scoular, Campbell, Valentine-Chase, Melisa, Aydin and Hamer, 2017). The research indicates that online sex workers have the autonomy to build their connection and business independently with their fan bases and customers, also the social media platform could prevent the physical danger that may happen to the sex workers.
However, social media could encourage sexual offenders and exploiters to act anonymously, leading to online sexual harassment and damage to the reputation of sex workers (Hughes, 2014). Cunningham et al. (2017) suggest that the advertising process mostly relies on the positive review from the client; anonymous identity on social media may allow the misogynists to harm the reputation of the sex workers. The social media platform has offered online sex workers a chance to establish their individualism, control overtime schedule, and income; they seem to increase the number of sex workers, along with media platforms that support their career such as Pornhub. Nevertheless, further study on the online platform of sex workers and how global pandemic effects on their works would lead to a more in-depth understanding on the sex industry. Also, this case study would be the part that helps create an understanding of prostitution and social media for those who come across this case study.
Methods
To answer the research questions, the authors have collected significant data by using secondary data analysis and the interview. For the secondary data analysis, the authors collect the related data in order to understand the influence of technology and social media on prostitution; which also covers the topic of both advantages and limitations that sex workers face while moving their business and practice to online platforms. The second method is an interview with 6 participants who use social media and dating app about prostitution on media platforms and one sex worker on twitter with the following question:
(For non-sex worker)
In your opinion what is the reason that sex workers move to social media?
Do you think sex workers still going outside and doing their work during Covid-19?
Do you have anything to say about the government?
(For sex workers)
Is online sex work a better option for them?
Do sex workers only do chat or will they still meet people in person during the COVID-19 situation?
Do they feel safe meeting people from online during COVID-19?
What is the difference between working online and offline?
However, there are limitations that occurred during the information finding; during searching for the participants, the authors found that most of the non-sex workers participate seem to have limited understanding of the topic. Moreover, the majority number of sex workers on twitter refused to participate and prefer to stay silent on the topic that related to them; which may happen for the safety of their identities and occupations.
Application offers alternative ways to contact customers.
Hashtag on Twitter for prostitution
Twitter is a social media that became popular from connecting people on their platform using the function called hashtag (#). A hashtag is a phrase or keyword used to describe a topic or a theme (Nations,2019). Users can find topics that are of interest to them by searching from a hashtag. For example, the broad topic could be searched on twitter by using the keyword of their interest after the symbol hashtag such as #cat or #dog, and for a more specific topic could be used by the trending phrase such as "#SaveWildAnimal", which is the hashtag for the animal campaign. Many users also use hashtags for promoting their products and other business purposes. According to Peterson(2014), some people use hashtags on Twitter to find a job starting from the regular jobs such as translators and baby sitters to jobs for sex workers. There are several hashtags on Twitter platform that relate to sex workers and prostitution, such as #รับงาน [rəb ngan], #นัดเย็ด [nud yed] which are translated to #LookingForWork, and #SexMeeting.
Since Twitter has no policy about censoring or banning pictures with nudity, it seems to be a new marketplace that provides sex workers a new way to meet their customers (Bercovici,2014). According to Marino(2014), there are more than a thousand individual Twitter accounts promoting private escorts, and dominatrix services were identified. One of the participants said it has become more difficult to work and meet customers outside. There is a high chance that they will get arrested by the police which may cause them to pay the fine and end up imprisoned. Twitter, on the other hand, makes it easier to avoid the legal issue and the police officers by making their profile anonymously. It is also safer for the workers to see who are their customers first before meeting them in real life.
Tinder
People are now using social networks for multipurpose,such as meeting new people, doing business, advertising including dating,sex, and prostitution. According to Sumter, Vandenbosch,& Ligtenberg (2016), the social media that is famous for these purposes is Tinder. It is a free application that was made for dating purposes and making new friends in its early days (Kalis,2020). Users on this dating platform will be asked to put their interest, age, profile pictures, and short descriptions for introducing themselves and tell what they are looking for from the application. Users will only be able to message other people only if they are matched with each other. However, the concept of the app has changed into sex more than just meeting people and relationships in the present time (Degan,2020). Functions on the application are useful and answer the personal expectation for each user to find the person of their need. Users who are looking for sex workers can just put the amount they are willing to pay and what type of girl do they want on their profile. On the other side, sex workers might put รับงาน [rəb ngan] the same keywords with twitter on their profile to let people know that they are accepting sex job as well. After matching it is now depend on sex workers and their customers if they want to do the service online or meet in person.
One of the Tinder user who participated in the interview claims that Tinder is potentially safer and allows sex workers more income. However, this user seems to not think that the practice should be included on Tinder since this process allows people to do illegal things, such as allowing the underage users to explore sexual interaction . Also, the number of Tinder users have been increasing, people appear not to come only to find their matches but also seeking for service from the sex workers.
Live cam on an adult website
Webcam as a new kind of sex workers
According to Hops (2018), webcam or also known as video calls is an online function that provides users an ability to communicate with each other. Most of the time, it is usually included with social media such as Line, Facebook messenger , Skype, and discord. The video call from these application are often used if sex workers and the customer are agree to do the service online (Schermer et al,2016).
Furthermore, there are applications and platforms that are mainly made for webcam such as Bigo lives, Kitty lives, M chat, Chaturbate, and Camfrog. These applications provide broadcast rooms for video live. Most of the time, the sexual broadcast will be hosted in a private room (Bindel, n.d). The host or the performers of video room are sex workers. The workers will perform several kinds of shows, For example, moaning, sexy dancers,naked dance, or masturbation. People who want to join the room and watch these shows will have to make a payment in the form of donation in the application first. In private chat rooms, sex workers are paid by the minute for sexual performance. The customer can requests for specific sexual acts to be performed also.The worker's income depends on how much donations they can convince the customers to pay. The benefits of doing this service is it safer for sex workers since they do not need to meet their customers outside. It is also an easy marketplace to enter. According to Stuart (2017), the work hours are flexible, the working environment is safe and they can make a lot of money from large amounts of audiences in a short time.
Pornhub and live chat
Sometimes, people want to respond to their sexual desire but they do not want others to help them or they are not in the situation that cannot get to meet other people. Adult video and other sexual media seem to be the solution for this situation. It is also an alternative option for sex workers to reach another group of customers. According to Benzinga (2017), Pornhub is a well known website for adult videos and other sexual media such as porn, nude pictures, and voice clips. In the past few years, Pornhub has become more like new social media than just a website (Saunders,2016). Users on this platform are now easier to be connected with. Premium users who pay for Pornhub monthly also get to access more functions which are the webcam room and “only fan” content. The study from Stuart (2017) shows the majority of performers are women, but there are also male and transgender. There are sex workers who are using these abilities from Pornhub as a way to make benefits for themselves. According to the interview with sex workers from Zane (2019), they can make money from webcam and video chat like other social media mentioned earlier. Moreover, instead of meeting customers in person, they can make money from uploading the media of their sexual content such as adult video. The website also benefits prostitution customers since it is easier for them to find the sexual content of their own choice on this platform.
Pandemic and their effects on sex workers
The effects on the international level
Coronavirus or Covid-19 is a newly discovered virus that has no specific vaccine or treatments. The outbreak of the virus started back in December 2019 in China. In early 2020, the disease spreads rapidly across the globe (World Health Organization, n.d.). During this time, Covid-19 has affected not only the world economy but also on people's lives and work. The Conversation (2020) suggests that in the state of national lock down, many countries such as France seem to come up with measures to help support their citizens economically. Emmanuel Macron, the president of France announces that employers are allowed to declare temporary unemployment (chômage partiel) to support their companies. Moreover, the temporary unemployed workers would receive 84% of their salary during the quarantine. For the self-employed, they could obtain a 1,500 euros help package starting from April 2020. In England, employers could apply for 80% wage to the government; in case of work absences, and payment on credit card and loans are postponed during the virus-outbreak (Pratt, 2020).
However, sex workers appear struggling with the situation as the government of their countries may not include them in the measurements. Hurst, Martinez, and Monella (2020) indicate that prostitution tends to include close contact; which may increase the risk of virus transmission. According to The Conversation (2020), underground profession such as prostitution is likely to have no access to the income support due to legal issue, consequently, several sex workers risk exposing to the disease to survive during the pandemic.
On the other hand, the situation of Japanese sex workers seems to be the opposite form other countries that had been stated. The government announces a public statement on the financial support measure that appears focusing on the legal sex workers in Japan. The measure indicates the qualification of the legal sex workers and agencies that could apply for the financial support including; delivery health industry (escort service for short sexual interaction) and fashion Industry (specific sexual perform in a short amount of time in massage parlors). Conversely, the sex workers in the legal work industries appear to be confused about the applying process for the scheme, they explain " the condition within the document seems to be ambiguous and difficult to navigate, and the information does not appear to state about the income condition of the sex workers that have to be qualified by the government" which may lead the sex workers to not participate in this financial support scheme (CNN, 2020).
The effects on the national level (Thailand)
The situations in Thailand on sex workers are similar to other countries. The enforce of lock down and curfew have been limited the sources of income to the Thai sex workers; leaving 3000,000 sex workers approximately jobless (Northajuddin, 2020). The author also indicates that although the Thai government scheme on giving 5,000 baht to Thai citizens whose businesses and occupations are affected by Covid-19, Thai sex workers might be exclude relating to the legal issue.
According to Thailand’s Penal Code Amendment Act on prevention and suppression of prostitution act 1966 section 8 declares that “any person who purposely indulges his or her sexual desire or of another person, leading to sexual interaction with a person over fifteen but not over eighteen years old with, or without their consent in prostitution establishment shall be imprisoned for one to three years, and fined of twenty thousand to sixty thousand baht. If the offender under paragraph one commits the act on a child age younger than fifteen, the offender shall be received two to six years imprisonment, and fined of forty thousand to one hundred twenty thousand baht.” The law possibly prevents the sex workers with no second job form access the financial assistance scheme and may leave them with no choice but to continue their prostitution job for a living.
Numbers of Thai sex workers have moved their business to online platforms. Nevertheless, they express the difficulty in doing online prostitution that during social isolation and quarantine, some of them live with families which may not be the proper environment for their profession. Also, some sex workers live in areas that could be impossible to access a high internet connection. Another group of sex workers could not effort the required equipment such as a camera and computer due to their unstable income.
The information appears to consist with the result of interview on sex worker on Twitter; the participant de-scripts the situation of sex workers in Thailand during the lock down that many of them violate the measure because the lacks of income. When asking on the moving of the practice on online platforms, the participant explains that sex workers also participate on secret groups on Facebook and Line. However, they seem to only show the first part of the video on the live to avoid getting ban, and will release the full version of not safe for work video on the groups when the donation reaches the goal.
The interviewee also emphasizes the difficulties on moving to online platforms that on each group appears to have their own local, whom the new participant would negotiate for their own safety and uninterrupted work. When asking about their qualification for the financial aid from Thai government, the sex worker indicates that to receive 5,000 baht financial support, the government may do the background check on both their work history and origin of their income to which could risk to imprisonment and a fine.
Discussion
The findings suggest that the number of sex workers appears to increase on social media from the convenient access to the customers, and it also helps to expand their business and connection with people who work in the same field, especially during the pandemic. However, the findings also indicate the hardship of working as online sex workers that performing sexual service may risk them being exposed in several ways, such as video leaking and identity exposing. That may bring law enforcement to discover their accounts and end up with imprisonment and fines.
The majority number of sex workers seem to be affected by the outbreak of Coronavirus which decreased their customers and income. Moreover, the lower-income prevents them from access to essential equipment for online works, and the limited support from the government, forcing the sex workers to continue the street prostitution. This information could emphasize the details of online prostitution that have been described in previous research by Farley et al. (2014) on prostitution and online trafficking; some sex workers may not want to participate in this field of work, but with their financial instability and lack of involvement from authorities, they seem to have no choices.
There are limitations that occurred in this case study. In the process of finding participants for the interview, the authors find that sex workers on social media seem to reluctant and refuse to give some insight information. It may be the result of fear of being exposed to the police. Moreover, normal users tend to have no idea about this aspect of prostitution. The lack of cooperation leads to a limited amount of required information which could affect the accuracy of this paper.
Conclusion
The in fluent of social media has encouraged sex workers to move their business to online platforms and adapt their practice according to each social media. Many sex workers seem to chose Twitter to expand their area of work due to the popularity of the platform and the high number of users. On the dating app such as Tinder, a similar style of profile pictures and suggestive captions may make it harder to distinguish sex workers from normal users.
Also, sex workers appear to change their service from face to face to webcam. The sex workers would perform sexual performance on the webcam, and they would have their fan base who request for specific types of poses and doing the donation to the sex workers. Moreover, during the pandemic, the number of online sex workers seem to rise due to social distancing and lock down. Conversely, some sex workers seem to face obstacles in the pandemic. Illegal occupations such as sex works are excluded from the financial support scheme.
The limit of income and neglect from the government could be the reasons that cause them to violate the transmission prevention measure and decide to meet the customers. Online sex workers may gain individualism and frame in their business through social media, yet they could face threats that similar to street sex workers, for example, financial instability and legal issues; in which most internet users might not aware before.
As an adult, privilegied, white man I find it shameful that despite the fact that a significant amount of humanities use of bandwidth on the internet is related to porn, and that in the western world it has been well known that businesses with focus on erotica is legal and widespread, the governments and legal systems still treat workers in these industries with implied immorality.
Not only is it discriminatory, but it is also irresponsible. Particulary so during extended lockdowns when it is significantly more difficult for people to interact and maintain social relations and therefor maintain good mental health.