“We Tried to Warn You, but the Coal Mine’s on Fire Now”: The Adult Industry Trade Press as Advocacy Journalism

FOSTA/SESTA is an anti-sex trafficking law passed during the first Trump presidency. The bipartisan legislation was celebrated as a step toward online safety. Years later, the law has not made measurable impacts on the commercial sex trade or on child sexual exploitation. It has, however, created a chilling effect on sexual speech that now permeates digital spaces. This paper presents an analysis of 209 news stories about FOSTA/SESTA published in adult industry trade publications XBIZ and AVN, contrasting findings with earlier coverage in legacy newspapers and LGBT and feminist media. More than other outlets, adult industry trade media produced early, in-depth legal analysis that raised concerns about sexual censorship at the federal level. XBIZ and AVN covered FOSTA/SESTA’s impacts on sex workers, the tech industry, and creative sectors, focusing on Big Tech overreach and legislative threats to freedom of sexual expression. Workers rights were emphasized. Algorithmic surveillance, AI, and cryptocurrency were included in the editorial mix years before these topics became common in the legacy press. This study underscores the watchdog role of the adult industry trade press and theorizes it as a genre of advocacy journalism. Implications for journalism research and creator studies are discussed.