Porn Actors' Trade Organisation Shakes Hands With Lobbying Firm to Get Protection From Congress

Both Democrats and Republicans are looking to significantly alter or completely scrap the famous Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which is set to safeguard platforms from illegal content posted by their users. Porn websites are not happy.

A trade organisation for adult entertainers has hired lobbyists to defend the porn industry’s online interests in Congress for the first time, Politico has revealed.

According to the report, the Free Speech Coalition signed a $30,000-per-quarter contract with Clarity Consulting’s Keith Nelson in June. Since then, Nelson, who is the former federal prosecutor and “Bush White House alumnus,” has been meeting with lawmakers from Congress to update them on “a huge vacuum of information” about the porn industry, as he put it. He was also planning to meet with officials from the Treasury Department to help his new clients.

Another lobbyist reportedly hired by the group is Shawn Delaney from the same company, who has more extensive links to the Democratic party.

The biggest concerns the US adult entertainment industry is facing come from lawmakers’ recent attacks on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. The section provides legal protection to internet platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, but also PornHub and OnlyFans for content shared by its users.

Aerial view, United States Capitol building, Washington, D.C

CC0 / /

For example, if users upload child pornography, revenge porn, or similar illegal content onto adult websites, their owners would not be charged with any crime or even punished – they would simply be forced to delete incriminating material. PornHub maintains that it has very thorough monitoring policies but the company has still been criticised for allowing illegal clips to surface on its pages.

Section 230 famously made headlines during the presidency of Donald Trump, who repeatedly attacked the policy for giving a green light for Facebook and Twitter to silence conservative voices. Many Republicans agree with their party’s most popular voice and want to alter the legislation or get rid of it completely. Some Democrats are also not satisfied with the way the law currently works, claiming that it deprives platforms of responsibility for hosting illegal content.

But adult performers believe that without Section 230 their work won't be the same.

“If Section 230 is gone, we are not going to exist on the internet,” said Alana Evans, a pornographic actress who currently serves on the legislative committee for the Free Speech Coalition.

“Our workers vote, they pay taxes, we are strong members of our community. We deserve representation,” the performer added.

Evans, who is also the president of a union for porn actors, said she and her colleagues have held numerous meetings on the subject with Democratic lawmakers, including Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) to talk about discrimination they allegedly face from financial services providers, like banks.