Adult industry stakeholders are looking to influence artificial intelligence (AI) regulations to protect the rights of content creators, amid emerging issues like AI-generated pornography, deepfakes, and age verification challenges.
The Digital Intimacy Coalition, advocating for privacy and sexual expression in digital spaces, launched a new initiative called Open Mind AI, submitting an open letter to the European Commission on Thursday (19 September), requesting representation in forthcoming AI policy discussions.
In September 2023, EU lawmakers called for decriminalising people in prostitution and penalising purchasers, sparking a debate between sex workers and members of the European Parliament (MEPs).
People in the adult industry currently feel excluded from discussions around tech regulations, which also focus on Big Tech, including porn platforms.
Those “working in the porn industry, who know what people are typing into the search bar, can provide the most valuable insight,” for regulation, Ana Ornelas (Pimenta Cítrica), erotic writer, pleasure activist, and one of the leaders of the initiative, told Euractiv.
The Commission conducts public consultations on legislative files, allowing for feedback, a spokesperson told Euractiv.
But it seems the adult industry needs more. This should include round tables and consultations with industry experts, said Alessandro Polidoro, an independent lawyer leading the coalition.
Defining and differentiating sex education, erotic art, and pornography would be essential in policymaking, said Ornelas.
Paulita Pappel, adult filmmaker, part of the initiative, and co-founder of Lustery, a platform where real-life couples share videos, pointed to Ofcom, the UK’s communications regulator as a good example of a regulator that consults with the adult industry.
Natural names disclosure
In July, Aylo, Pornhub’s parent company, appealed to the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) to avoid disclosing the real names of users in its ad repository, as required by the Digital Services Act (DSA).
Aylo argued that revealing the names of advertisers, including content creators and performers, would compromise their safety by making their names publicly accessible.
Though the safety of sex workers is important, Aylo might be using this as an excuse to delay the DSA’s implementation, Polidoro, head of the Digital Intimacy Coalition, which advocated for porn platforms to be included under the DSA, shared this view with Euractiv in July.
“It is legit and important that Pornhub raises this question,” Pappel now told Euractiv. Yet, she also noted that large platforms have often neglected the best interest of performers.
These companies often simply adhere to regulatory requirements, as opposed to prioritising the rights of content creators and considering potential harms, she said.
Chatbot censorship and deepfakes
Content policies around AI chatbots can prevent content creators from using them for their work, Ornelas said.
She has a project on clitoral anatomy and occasionally seeks the assistance of ChatGPT, but she cannot use it as “this violates the content policy immediately.”
“We are talking about biology research,” she said, adding that even descriptions of kissing scenes are restricted.
On the flipside, when AI models allow “spicy content,” they often remove all filters, leading to the exposure of racist, homophobic, or hateful content, said Ornelas.
Moreover, she says that non-consensual deepfake pornography, not only violates individuals personally but also harms adult-content creators workers by depriving them of income.
The Directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence will criminalise the “non-consensual sharing of intimate or manipulated material,” including deepfakes, and these actions also violate the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a Commission spokesperson told Euractiv.
Protecting the most vulnerable
Both Pappel and Ornelas agree with restrictions to prevent children from accessing pornography or age-inappropriate content.
While one of the DSA’s aims is to protect children, who are often referred to as the “most vulnerable,” Ornelas thinks adult content creators also fall into this group.
Technological advancement and the “desire for spicy content go hand in hand,” but safeguards should be in place to protect the most vulnerable, she said.
“We need to have a mature conversation […] that is not tainted with the moralism of ‘oh, we should not talk about sex, we should not talk about adult content, let us just pretend it does not exist’.”
Now is “a great moment to bring this industry to a place of more transparency and I really wish that the policymakers do not miss this opportunity,” said Pappel.
[Edited by Eliza Gkritsi/Rajnsih Singh]
