newsletter
Even in the face of adversity, we try to keep it light and positive at Spank HQ, however, events have unfolded over the past few weeks that are quite serious. While there’s a joke to be made about the spooky season getting much scarier, this newsletter our main focus will be educating and empowering you all because knowledge is power, and whether people know it or not, everyone will be deeply impacted by this new wave of policies.Though some are immediately affected, the topics below shows no signs of stopping at adult or sex work, and please help spread the word so that we can work together to protect future generations.
That’s what SpankChain’s Head of Creative, Allie Eve Knox, says about Age Verification laws, as she, like many others see this kind of policy for what is: a pretext for censorship and surveillance.Recently, the state of Michigan proposed a new bill that would ban VPNs on the pretext that they could be used to access online adult content. This means that no one in Michigan would have access to VPNs, regardless of the use case. Michigan has historically had elevated surveillance due to it being an international border-state with Canada. This legislation is part of an alarming trend for policymakers to push for digital surveillance. But this battle is not new, it has deep roots that go back decades, connecting to cryptography and cryptocurrency. If we look back at crypto wars (as in cryptography) of the 1990s, we can see that the government never wanted to give the public access to encryption, calling it a hindrance to enforcement.
Now, these same battles for privacy are being fought once again, and everyone in our free world has a lot to lose. For all the talk about safety, this kind of surveillance does little to protect users. As part of our research efforts, a trusted source created a Roblox account and made a very deliberate effort to post comments that should have gotten the account banned. A basic word flag is trivial and common on many platforms these days, and yet, spoiler… nothing happened. While many like to cite prevention of sex trafficking and child sexual abuse material (CSAM) as the reason for age verification, the proof is in the pudding that the priority is surveillance, not protection.
KYC (Know Your Customer) protocols are creeping into platforms and services such as ChatGPT and Discord, which is particularly alarming. When companies require their users to provide personal information, users are placed at the mercy of the people and institutions who own those companies. In the case of Discord, that means giving your data to Tencent, which is governed by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party).
Bringing it back to Allie’s comment, adult content creators basically have a target on their backs in the current climate and data leaks can be very dangerous since they are public figures. These kinds of regulations put their livelihoods on the line. This is part of a disturbing trend where deplatforming and debanking is becoming the new normal. And if all that weren’t bad enough, the same kind of ignorance and prejudice is becoming a matter of personal security. Recently at TwitchCon, a bodyguard was unable to protect a creator due Twitch’s security policy that prevented standard safety protocols and failed to provide adequate replacement protection, resulting in a fan grabbing her face and sexually assaulting her. They had banned her previous bodyguard in 2023 for respectfully and nonviolently protecting her from an aggressive fan.
Okay, okay, it’s not ALL bad news. We are pretty stoked to report that our third zine, Hors D'oeuvres, Volume III, will feature familiar favorites Honey Live and Nina Hartley, and will be available for purchase in late November. As per usual, all of the proceeds will be going to our friends over at the FSC (Free Speech Coalition) who have been fighting the good fight on Capitol Hill. If you’d like to send them a little more love and support before then, you can always donate directly.
With so much at stake, it’s never been more important to keep current with how to stay safe as a creator or consumer. SpankU remains dedicated to informing our community and more videos and articles to help you navigate these security issues are just around the corner, so make sure to give us a follow and keep an eye out in early 2026 for a whole batch of new content.
So many curves, so little time. Meet our October SpankMate, Gwen Adora. More is definitely more when it comes to this bodacious baddie. Make sure not to miss our exclusive photoshoot, a true feast for the eyes, and give Gwen a follow on X.
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