There is an amendment which has been made to the online safety bill in the UK parliament. If this amendment goes through, it will effectively stop online advertising for escorts. Hosting companies will be responsible for removing prostitution related advertising. That includes twitter and escort directories.
Now, with a new law going through parliament with the intention of making online spaces safer, sex workers are worried that their jobs could get a lot more dangerous, forcing them into making riskier choices like Audrey found herself doing during lockdown.
A recent amendment to the Online Safety Bill (which will be scrutinised next week by the Public Bill Committee) will target online adverts for sexual services in a bid to stop traffickers from using online platforms to exploit victims. The Online Safety Bill is a huge piece of legislation with multiple focuses but is primarily aimed at protecting children and other vulnerable groups from harmful online content. However, the recent amendment lays out "inciting or controlling prostitution for gain" as a priority offence that tech companies must crack down on.