Silenced Online
May 25, 2026
Have you ever seen someone write “seggs” or “s3x” instead of sex?
People around the world are using this algospeak to avoid posting anything on social media that might be identified as explicit, sensitive, or offensive.
This silly sounding strategy is a serious concern because sex workers continue to have their accounts deleted from major social media platforms, often with only vague reasons provided, such as “content that may not meet community guidelines.”
These decisions are notoriously hard to appeal, and this silencing is not just happening to sex workers.
Organizations promoting women’s rights, sexual health education, and queer liberation are reporting similar experiences, despite carefully following the terms of service.
This isn’t moderation, it’s erasure.
– Maedb Joy, Sexquisite
Platform policing also includes what Meta describes as becoming “non-recommendable.”
If the content you post is judged to be problematic, even if it isn’t prohibited by site guidelines, many platforms have systems in place to reduce the visibility of that content.
Commonly known as shadowbanning, it’s the opposite of being promoted. Instead, your content is demoted. It still appears on your page but is effectively hidden from other users.
It’s hard to be certain if this is targeted censorship, or overly cautious moderation. Either way, there are serious consequences – especially for sex workers – when a well established account is deleted, and it’s incredibly stressful knowing that you could lose access to your online community at any time.
The ways that sex work and organizing are policed on the streets through racist, transphobic policing tactics and use of condoms as evidence, parallel the inequitable ways these communities are policed online: content moderation, shadowbanning, and denial of access to financial technologies.
– Posting Into the Void, Hacking//Hustling
WISH is a registered charity serving sex workers and this silencing is affecting us as well.
Recently, an online ad for WISH that mentioned “street-based sex workers” was edited by the ad agency to read “street-based workers.” We cancelled the ad.
Their unacceptable removal of the word “sex” would be hilarious if this type of censorship wasn’t so harmful.
Staying connected to our supporters is how WISH survives. Every year, thousands of people volunteer their time and skills, drop off new and gently used physical donations, and help raise much-needed funds for WISH in deeply impactful ways.
We need you to know how your support helps protect sex workers’ rights in our community.
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Your support of WISH Drop-In Centre on social media also makes a big difference!
Every time you like and share something WISH has posted you increase the likelihood that other followers will see it, and you help bring messages about sex worker safety to new audiences. Thank you!
WISH is currently active on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and new to Bluesky.
So far, we’ve seen positive engagement on Bluesky. The platform gives each user control over their own moderation and content filters, helping people avoid (or discover) adult content based on their preferences.
This article is part of WISH’s 2026 Spring Newsletter. Read more to learn why your Spring donation to Support Safety can help centre the needs of sex workers in our community.