Image-based sexual violence and imperfect victims: the case for platform cooperativism in the online sex industry

There is growing need for greater empirical understanding of the data violence experienced by online sex workers. Popular discourse about image-based sexual violence (IBSV), or 'revenge porn', often fails to identify the widespread proliferation of this practice within sexual services. This occurs as both consumers and adult-services platforms surreptitiously record and post performances on porn sites without consent, which can have severe implications for workers' mental and social well-being. First, I apply a workerist lens to the neoliberal sexual agenda, which governs the (in)visibility and (un)freedom of online performers (OPs) across a variety of institutional settings. This exposes how top-down ideological power relations disappears OPs from legislative approaches to IBSV. Second, I show how IBSV emulates the tendencies of the platform business model, such as data appropriation and surveillance. I conclude with solutions including protections based in technology and human rights law, alongside platform cooperative development within a wider decriminalization framework.