Last week, on a sweltering hot July day, I went to Committee Room 5 in the Houses of Parliament to discuss online censorship with two representatives of Meta. I was invited by MP Samantha Niblett as part of a group of educators, activists, academics and sex workers to discuss censorship and the right to respond on Instagram.
I’m grateful for Samantha Niblett for making it happen, for pushing an agenda around sex and representation in ways that politicians usually avoid. Protecting the rights of those who work in or around the sex industry doesn’t win votes. And it was thrilling to be ushered through the vast, ornate building that has been the seat of power in the UK since the 17th century, the stained glass windows and wood panelled corridors; the threadbare carpets, red for Lords and green for Commons
Of course, I don’t work in the sex industry. I’m a publisher who has been swept up in an overcorrection online that targets anyone who writes, supports, highlights or educates about anything related to our erotic lives and much of our bodies, be that medical advice or education for young people, poetry or sex parties for adults. We gave our stories to Meta, or as much of them as we could in 50 minutes. One woman had even turned to anonymous hackers to try and get her personal account, community and contacts back. She’s not alone in taking that recourse.
In their defence, Meta was in Committee Room 5 and agreed to listen, respond in general and then come back with thoughts. The rallying cry from the varied professions in the room was simply the right to respond. We all want children to be protected from criminal intent, but if they delete us erroneously in the process we expect the right to prove our legitimacy. We were told that, with 3 billion users, they simply can’t employ human beings to sift through the ongoing complaints. And neither do they want to give clear guidelines on “adult content”, as they don’t want criminals to get around them.
I’m hosting a conversation on 24 September in London to discuss the issues around digital censorship with some of the brilliant women I met in Parliament and others whom I interviewed for and published in my essay in issue 5, ‘Sex not Seggs’—which you can read for free here on Substack. Save the date, more details soon…
—Lucy Roeber
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