SISEA and the War on Porn

In late December senators Sasse and Merkley introduced the Stop Internet Exploitation Act or SISEA. The relatively short bill introduced legislation to

Require any user uploading a video to the platform verify their identity.

Require any user uploading a video to the platform also upload a signed consent form from every individual appearing in the video.

Creates a private right of action against an uploader who uploads a pornographic image without the consent of an individual featured in the image.

Require platforms hosting pornography include a notice or banner on the website instructing how an individual can request removal of a video if an individual has not consented to it being uploaded on the platform.

Prohibit video downloads from these platforms, to be in place within three months of enactment of this legislation.

Require platforms hosting pornography offer a 24-hour hotline staffed by the platform. Individuals who contact the hotline can request removal of a video that has been distributed without their consent.

Require removal of flagged videos as quickly as possible, but not to exceed two hours.

Require platforms to use software to block a video from being reuploaded after its removal. The platforms must have this software in place within six months of enactment of this legislation.

Directs the Federal Trade Commission to enforce violations of these requirements.

Creates a database of individuals that have indicated they do not consent. The database must be checked against before new content can be uploaded to the platforms.

Instructs the Department of Justice to promulgate rules on where this database should be housed, and determine how to connect these victims with services, to include counseling and casework.

Failure to comply with this requirement will result in a civil penalty to the platform, with proceeds going towards victims services.

JC Adams, xbiz.com

Let’s break down the issues of the bill one by one.

1. What is a platform?
   • Language from the bill: “the term ‘‘covered platform’’ means an online platform that hosts and makes available to the general public pornographic images.”
   • This means that the expected sites would have to follow the rules mentioned above: Pornhub, Xhamster, and studio websites like Evil Angel. Also on the hook? Twitter, Reddit, Discord, and any other site that you likely find free porn.
2. ID Verification
   • This law would require ID verification and consent forms to be submitted for each piece of media uploaded. What does this mean?
     • If you are not the original owner of the work you will no longer be able to upload it. This means no more captions, no more compilations, no more sharing gifs and pictures online of your favorite scenes.
     • Sites that allow explicit content, but are not inherently “porn” sites (think Twitter) will need to either (1) hire and fund departments for this purpose or (2) completely disallow explicit content of any kind on their site. I think we can guess which they would choose. Sexworkers like myself would say goodbye to advertising our services (in the way we do now).
3. Prohibit Video Downloads
   • So, free content will obviously be much scarcer, but what about the videos you pay for from studios and individual performers? You will no longer have the right to download that material. Even if you pay for it, you will never truly own it.
4. 24 Hour Hotline
   • This goes back to the issues with verification. Will reddit pay the salaries of hotline attendants, or will they just get rid of porn all together?
5. Database of Individuals who don’t consent
   • This bill could create a database of individuals who had their content uploaded without consent, so that porn sites can check to ensure content uploaded does not feature any of these individuals.
   • This seems like a great idea at first glance, but there is no information about how this database will be protected from bad actors. We hear regularly about local, state, and federal government being hacked and even held hostage. Will the attorney general really be able to protect these victims of exploitation from further abuse? Or are they just handing over a tidy list of their personal information?
   • The list would be overseen either by the DOJ or a designated non-profit. This is risky because most of the non-profits that back this bill and would be seeking to maintain this list are those that claim to be anti-trafficking, but are really evangelical based anti-porn organizations like Exodus Cry or NCOSE. These groups are interested in eradicating porn completely and oftentimes exploit victims of trafficking further to advance their cause.
6. Age of Consent
   • Something fishy about this bill is that it states that platforms must verify “that the user is not less than the minimum age required to consent to sexual acts under the law of the State in which the user resides”
   • Does this mean that in the 39 states where the age of consent is under 18 it will become legal for a child to upload pornography of themselves? What about states like New Hampshire where the age of consent is 13 with parental approval?

What to Do

As of right now SISEA is not the law. It has to go to committee where it will likely be revised before it is brought to the floor for a vote. The most important thing is to make our voices and concerns heard, not just on social media but also through emailing and calling your representatives.

The Adult Performance Artists Guild has also compiled a list of the committee members that will first set eyes on the bill here.

If you are interested in helping out with organizing, APAG has a discord server where you can find more information. Contact me directly for an invitation.

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