Internet Legislation is Eating the World

Jack Chen

Eliza Sorensen

1 talk

Internet Legislation is Eating the World

by Eliza Sorensen and Jack Chen

The video titled 'Internet Legislation Is Eating the World' features Eliza Sorensen and Jack Chen, co-founders of Assembly Four, discussing the implications of internet legislation, particularly laws affecting sex work. They begin by highlighting the distressing context of sex trafficking and the restrictive policies that target platforms catering to sex workers.

Key points discussed include:
- Background of Assembly Four: Founded in 2017, the organization aims to create products and services specifically for the sex industry. They launched Switter, a social network for sex workers, in response to increasingly hostile policies.
- Impact of FOSTA-SESTA: These laws, aimed at combating sex trafficking, have led to over-censorship on platforms, impacting consensual sex workers and complicating their ability to report violence or seek help due to fear of arrest.
- Importance of Online Platforms: They argue that digital spaces allow sex workers to operate more safely and autonomously. Data revealing that the closure of the erotic services section on Craigslist was linked to a decrease in female homicide rates highlights this point.
- Public Opposition to FOSTA-SESTA: Numerous organizations, including the ACLU and WHO, have condemned these laws for being vague and detrimental to both sex workers and trafficking victims.
- Concerns Beyond the Sex Industry: They draw parallels to broader internet legislation impacts, mentioning how these laws stifle innovation and highlight issues such as metadata retention laws and surveillance concerns arising from government regulations.
- Call for Ethical Responsibility: The speakers emphasize the need for a programming ethical pledge to prioritize human welfare over profit in tech development. They advocate that programmers should consider the societal impact of their work.

In conclusion, Sorensen and Chen underscore the importance of opposing harmful legislation and recognize the ongoing struggle for sex workers who face stigma and legal challenges. They call for collective responsibility to protect vulnerable communities and foster a technology landscape that respects individual rights and safety.

00:00:07.010 Hello, good morning! The title of our talk is 'Internet Legislation Is Eating the World.' We want to offer a common warning: we will be discussing sex trafficking and politics. As mentioned earlier, this topic can be distressing for some, so please feel free to leave if you need to— we won’t be offended.

00:00:19.109 Good day! I'm Eliza, also known as Zemmiphobia. I'm Jack, but most of you know me as Chendo. Some people mistakenly think Chendo is my real name, but I promise it's not, and I have the ID to prove it. If you're curious, you can see it afterwards.

00:00:27.830 We've previously worked at a number of companies you might have heard of. I know it’s early, and everyone is still waking up, but I want to start with a question: What do these news article titles have in common? 'Do Reddit Ban Subreddits Dedicated to Dark Web Markets?' 'Scruff Getting Out, Bans Underwear Photos.' 'The New Law That Killed Craigslist Personals Could End The Web As We Know It.' 'CloudFlare Just Banned a Social Media Refuge for Sex Workers.'

00:00:55.540 To fully understand the implications of these articles, we need to travel back in time just a bit. In 2017, we founded Assembly Four with the idea of creating products solely for the sex industry. Early last year, we heard troubling news that sex workers’ accounts on social media and web services were being shut down, and their content was being removed or outright deleted due to a bill that was likely to be signed into law. We decided to take action and launched a social network for sex workers to ensure they could continue communicating in a safe environment.

00:01:20.189 You may have heard of this platform called Mastodon, an open-source microblogging platform similar to Twitter. We built this little underground platform on a technology you may not have heard of — Ruby on Rails. It gained attention a few months ago when Twitter was experiencing a bit of turmoil. So, we secured the domain and then, two days later, our co-founder, Lolo, coined the term 'Switter'— which is what the sex worker community called the tech community on Twitter. We embraced that name and ran with it.

00:01:58.920 Unexpectedly, this decision went viral. We had to host it on a modest $15-a-month VPS expecting 500 to 1,000 users. It quickly became clear that this was underestimating our need. Within the first two hours, we had to double our server capacity. It was quite the surreal moment to upgrade from a 2 GB to a 16 GB VPS within four hours. The slide on the next screen illustrates our feelings during this moment.

00:02:53.240 One of my favorite memes features two kids in a parallel canoe that is clearly submerged underwater, representing our chaotic feelings perfectly. Within the first 24 hours, we hit 5,000 users. That weekend, we had to scale to a ten-node cluster, which was hastily organized. Then something completely unexpected happened: Backpage was seized by the FBI. For context, Backpage was a classified advertising platform vital for sex workers. When it was taken down, many in the community lost their primary means of support.

00:04:01.500 We received a flood of panicked messages from people urging us to act quickly. To help out, we decided on a specific hashtag for users to post their listings so clients could find them. We quickly created a page in just three hours, which resulted in a significant spike in traffic. Our traffic doubled overnight, and within the first few days, we were overwhelmed by messages of gratitude. We initially thought we were on the right track and everything would go smoothly from there.

00:05:01.870 However, on April 18th, we faced a shocking situation. We were kicked off CloudFlare for allegedly breaking their Terms of Service. Notably, the last prominent termination issued by CloudFlare was against a neo-Nazi website. This was a problematic comparison for us. You might wonder why this happened. It likely relates to a little law you might not have heard of — the Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act and the Stop Enabling Sex Trafficking Act, commonly known as FOSTA-SESTA, signed into law by President Trump last year.

00:06:12.530 They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and this law is a prime example. The intent behind FOSTA-SESTA was to provide law enforcement agencies with additional powers to combat and prosecute sex trafficking. These powers included harsher sentencing and the removal of safe harbor protections for platforms that knowingly support or facilitate sex trafficking. Additionally, it allowed trafficking victims to file civil lawsuits.

00:06:35.950 At first glance, it might sound good, but let me assure you, it is problematic. FOSTA-SESTA is extremely vague, leading platforms to over-censor content due to the risk of criminal liability. For instance, any female-presenting nipples can be subject to removal. One of the critical issues with FOSTA-SESTA is that it does not differentiate between consensual sex workers and victims of sex trafficking.

00:06:59.060 As I previously mentioned, safe harbor laws protect platforms from being held liable for user-generated content. Specifically, this legislation states that no provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of information provided by another information content provider. Criminalization affects both sex workers and trafficking victims, leading to increased violence in countries where sex work is illegal.

00:07:39.210 This atmosphere makes it nearly impossible for sex workers or trafficking victims to report incidents to authorities out of fear of being arrested instead of protected. Additionally, prevalent stigma against sex workers undermines trust in support systems, resulting in reduced quality of service or even refusal of vital services such as financial assistance, legal representation, and healthcare.

00:08:03.610 The organizations advocating for the decriminalization of sex work include Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the World Health Organization. They recognize that decriminalization is a proven method to reduce both sex trafficking and violence against sex workers, as online platforms prove crucial for ensuring their safety.

00:08:27.730 Online platforms allow sex workers to screen potential clients from the safety and comfort of their homes, different from the dangerous situations they face on the street. Platforms enable the sharing of important safety information and resources, allowing workers to operate independently of pimps, brothels, and agencies.

00:08:49.310 During my research, I came across a particularly sobering statistic. A research paper by economics professor Scott Cunningham highlighted that the erotic services section on Craigslist reduced the overall female homicide rate by 17.4%. This statistic does not solely refer to the homicide rate of sex workers but the overall female homicide rate. The study also estimated it would cost $20 billion in police funding to achieve a similar reduction in crime.

00:09:31.030 Several organizations opposed FOSTA-SESTA, including the World Health Organization, the ACLU, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and Amnesty International. Even the U.S. Department of Justice raised concerns regarding this legislation. In a letter, the Assistant Attorney General pointed out serious constitutional issues and criticized the vague language used in FOSTA-SESTA.

00:10:04.960 Furthermore, the EFF argued that FOSTA-SESTA was unnecessary, asserting that websites already faced liability for knowingly profiting from this kind of content. This is ongoing due to the Fair Housing Council of San Fernando Valley v. Roommates ruling, which defined that safe harbor immunity does not apply when online services are directly involved with creating content that violates civil or human rights.

00:10:22.830 People should be allowed to support themselves safely, and equally, individuals should have autonomy over their own bodies. Some of you might be wondering how this affects you or if it has implications for the broader community. Does anyone recognize these books? You know— RubyConf attendees, right?

00:10:40.070 The Pragmatic Programmers ran forums and ultimately shut them down due to FOSTA-SESTA. They acknowledged that it was logistically impossible to monitor all posts made in real-time and determine if they violated such imprecise laws. As a result, those forums no longer exist.

00:11:19.000 When we mentioned getting kicked off CloudFlare, we were advised that they never responded to our repeated inquiries about what terms we allegedly violated. However, they did express to the media that our termination was related to our efforts to comprehend FOSTA-SESTA, which they labeled as a dangerous law setting a troubling precedent. If a major player in the cloud industry fails to understand this legislation, how can startups or smaller companies navigate such complicated legal terrain?

00:12:09.020 FOSTA-SESTA stifles innovation, making it challenging for smaller companies to manage content. We've been in similar territory before. Does anyone here remember the metadata retention laws in Australia? Recently, a list of all agencies requesting access to data was released, and I found several entities listed that I find questionable. Can someone explain why the Greyhound Racing Victoria or the Taxi Services Commission of Victoria would require access to such data?

00:12:36.380 Let’s discuss the Assistance and Access Bill, which the Australian government forcefully passed in December 2018 without proper due process. This bill grants sweeping powers, including technical assistance requests with no associated criminal or civil penalties for noncompliance. However, this power already existed. The notices require providers to use existing interception capabilities, so if companies store messages in plain text, they can already be accessed.

00:13:19.640 The most alarming aspect is the Technical Capability Notice, which compels service providers to build new interception capabilities to comply with a technical assistance notice. We know these powers are continually being utilized, inching society closer to a surveillance state.

00:14:05.610 There is also a proposed European copyright directive, affectionately dubbed Article 13 or 'the end of memes.' This proposed law would require all for-profit companies serving the EU to install upload filters that all user content would be processed through to prevent copyright infringement.

00:14:42.440 We have already seen ineffective systems like YouTube's Content ID, supposedly a tool for copyright holders to monetize content. However, it often leads to abuse by DRM followers who seek to appropriate revenues from content creators since it fails to discern between infringing content and fair use.

00:15:41.890 Many of us may recognize the name Philip DeFranco—an American YouTuber with over 6 million subscribers who hosts a daily news show. Unfortunately, his videos often face suppression or demonetization for covering sensitive subjects that do not meet advertising-friendly criteria. This has pushed independent creators, like his team, to explore alternative revenue streams, such as Patreon.

00:16:56.160 Legislative actions can only go so far. No amount of laws can prevent companies from engaging in unfair practices. Recently, it came to light that Facebook was paying teenagers to install a VPN on their devices to monitor all internet traffic, including encrypted content. This exposes serious ethical concerns, leading to accusations that if such programs had originated from smaller companies, they would face more severe penalties.

00:18:05.000 Remember the famous Jurassic Park quote? 'You were so preoccupied with whether or not you could, you didn't stop to think if you should.' We all want to innovate. However, we need to evaluate what we are producing and how it may impact users. Are there potential harms? Can we face legal consequences for certain features? We must consider the worst-case scenarios.

00:18:34.470 When we founded Assembly Four, we did not envision being in this position today. We never anticipated the immense challenges posed by operating within a heavily stigmatized industry. We have grappled with our responsibilities, not only to keep our services running but also to treat our users with the respect they deserve.

00:19:06.570 We are committed to keeping Switter operational without resorting to traditional industry practices, such as selling user data. To facilitate this, we launched a modern advertising platform for escorts—Risk Don't Link—to ensure Switter remains accessible for the entire community.

00:19:31.829 As of this morning, Switter boasts over 220,000 users, handling 15 million requests daily and transferring over 18 terabytes of data each month.

00:19:37.220 We all share a social responsibility to ensure that the world doesn’t descend into chaos. Just because something is legal does not make it morally right. There will be more laws like these, and we need to stand against them. Damn the man! We need to advocate for our users.

00:19:47.940 Lastly, the creator of Rails stated recently that perhaps we need an algorithmic oath for programmers—a pledge to not harm individuals through privacy invasion, attention hoarding, or radicalization. We must not prioritize engagement metrics over the humanity of our users.

00:19:56.900 Our industry must aim to improve, not only for our users but for ourselves. This is our legacy. Thank you.

RubyConf AU 2019