It's amazing how much you can learn about risks to the future of the internet by just watching attacks on sex workers and their livelihoods.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/88x9mb/spankpay-sex-work-payment-platform-shuts-down
@mmasnick Anything sex related in general is a barometer for a lot of things: you want to know which physical media or streaming codec will prevail? pay attention to the porn industry; you want to know the atmosphere of free expression on the internet? how easy is it to express sexually online; you want to know whether internet mediated commerce is free and safe from interference? observe how easy is it for sex workers of any sort to conduct business.
@FinalOverdrive @mmasnick That's a very thought provoking observation. Though I suspect it would be easy to overstate the breadth and consistency of its applicability.
@FinalOverdrive @mmasnick Right, but "feels broadly true" in some people's hands too easily becomes "handy yardstick that's always right".
I think for example, the clause "how easy is it to express sexually online" hides a lot of real-world complexity regarding ideological trends which can be powerfully countervailing in some particulars. In other words, some forms of sexual expression, and responses to them, can at various times be as powerfully suppressed as others are liberated, depending on whose agenda is being served.
@pieist @mmasnick Point taken: better objective measure I guess would be freedom of online commerce and how easily sex workers can ply their trade online.