Op-Ed: The Grifters of the Anti-Porn Movement

WASHINGTON—For me personally, the most challenging thing about working in the online adult entertainment industry is dealing with those who are either confused by my motivation to work in this space or are openly ignorant of the fact that it's a legit job. In a discussion with my mother recently, she kept asking why I risk my personal and professional reputations in defense of an industry that everyone on the political right wing seems to want canceled. To be fair, my mother is a conservative Catholic, as is my father. So, it’s not at all surprising that she would ask about my life choices. I digress, though. But, this conversation with her got me in a trance of very deep thought. As the patriotic celebrate Independence Day with fireworks, cookouts with family and friends, and downing enough alcohol to kill a horse, concerns of mine are rampant and negate my ability to relax and pretend to be proud of this overly divided country we live in. Now more than ever, the anti-pornography movement has stooped to the lowest possible levels to campaign against consensual commercial sex work and First Amendment-protected forms of expression. Emboldened by a Supreme Court that is gripped by a socially conservative majority and a slate of Republican presidential hopefuls even more outrageous than the next, the adult industry hasn’t seen a political and legislative environment so against it in years. And, it is also no surprise these anti-pornography groups—namely the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE), Exodus Cry, and the #Traffickinghub movement—aren’t shutting up or even moving in a different direction with their anti-industry messaging. One of the symptoms of our social media-driven society is how commonplace grifting is. Award-winning comedian Hasan Minhaj, while running a stint as a host for Comedy Central’s The Daily Show back in March, asked his audience a simple question: “Do you guys feel like scam artists are everywhere?” The audience collectively responded in the affirmative. While Minhaj was discussing the implosion of crypto hedge fund manager FTX and the overt commercialism of social media influencers who peddle crappy products (e.g., Logan Paul’s heart attack in a bottle, Prime), he made an excellent point when he characterized us all living not only in a “golden age of grifters” but “the age of dipshit grifters.” Minhaj isn’t wrong. Applying his hilariously accurate assessment to the anti-porn groups, we as professionals in adult entertainment are seeing a golden age of the anti-porn grift. Let’s consider NCOSE. In recent months, an online campaign has gained some traction asking for the Southern Poverty Law Center to classify the National Center on Sexual Exploitation as a hate group. Organized by a loose collective of digital rights activists from across Canada and the United States, the campaign is backed by the aptly named Expose NCOSE. The group caused so much of a ruckus on Twitter that NCOSE ended up blocking the Expose NCOSE account due to a classic pressure campaign to hold a certain group or class of people accountable for propagating worldviews that aren’t compatible with secular society. It’s hilarious but effective. Hundreds of people—industry professionals, performers, activists, consumers, yours truly—have signed on in support of a Change.org petition asking the Southern Poverty Law Center to classify the group as an extremist hate group. The justification behind the Expose NCOSE group and its campaign is very clean-cut: NCOSE is a general hate group led by people who are otherwise affiliated with other SPLC-tracked hate groups and social conservatives who wish to see virtually every form of sex-related speech restricted, even outlawed in some cases. NCOSE has a Kafkaesque belief that anything that’s remotely sexual contributes to the sexual exploitation of individuals, especially minors. So, in an effort to counter this “mainstream” exploitation, NCOSE organizes and leads “cancel culture”-tested campaigns against companies, charities, and individuals who they deem as sources of sexual exploitation. By doing so, the NCOSE coots publish their “Dirty Dozen” list every year attempting to shame mainstream organizations that are reportedly contributing to their fucked worldview of what’s exploitative and what isn’t. Mind you, NCOSE is the group that got Walmart to block Cosmopolitan magazine from being sold at checkout lanes due to it being “pornographic” and “obscene.” NCOSE also accused EBSCO, a very larger provider of academic databases and software for grades K-12 and most higher educational institutions, of exposing minors to “pornographic” material because some middle school students looked up sex-ed topics and got anatomically correct diagrams of the human anatomy back instead of a coloring page (I’m clearly exaggerating). The point of this is simple: NCOSE, in its current form, started off as a religiously conservative group called Morality in Media that propagated debunked, far-right claims on sexuality and advocated against comprehensive sexual education in public schools, took positions against same-sex marriage rights, and openly aligned itself with other groups that eventually were named to SPLC’s hate group list (e.g., Moms for Liberty, Utah Parents United, and other Ron DeSantis-loving covens of white suburban moms too uncomfortable to discuss the inaccuracy of Stork infant delivery services to their children). Nevertheless, one of the elements in the Expose NCOSE campaign is that they openly call NCOSE an organization of grifters. They are correct—the National Center for Sexual Exploitation is a front for religious-right grifting. I’ve studied NCOSE for a very long time—both as an academic and a journalist. And, one thing that is consistent with NCOSE is how flagrant and unashamed their dishonest campaigns can be. In March, International Policy Digest published my column covering how the adult industry is an active partner in countering child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and other non-consensual forms of image-based sexual abuse. NCOSE has hijacked the credibility of organizations like the Department of Justice-funded National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).  NCMEC is instrumental in countering CSAM and legitimate cases of child exploitation in the United States. In fact, some digital companies are required by federal law to participate in the CyberTipline program. Typically, CyberTipline is completely voluntary and features data from companies utilizing NCMEC’s authority as a global clearinghouse of child exploitation cases for law enforcement agencies worldwide. Most major porn sites report to NCMEC’s CyberTipline program—sites like Pornhub, XVideos, OnlyFans, and many others. NCOSE reports to CyberTipline, too. But, there is a stark contrast. CyberTipline data for the reporting year of 2022 shows that mainstream tech companies (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, etc.) and the firms that own adult sites have reported literally millions more cases of potential CSAM, other types of child exploitation online, and non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII) than NCOSE. NCOSE fundraises and champions itself as a group actively engaged in countering CSAM and influencing law enforcement, policymakers, and others. But, the facade is broken when NCOSE only reported 10 cases of suspected CSAM in 2022, compared to OnlyFans reporting 310. For the tube sites, MindGeek (parent company of Pornhub and others) reported over 2,000 cases. Chaturbate reported over 1,000 cases. NCOSE and similar organizations influence regulations with a moralistic agenda, causing moral panic and disregarding facts. Adult entertainment companies and mainstream social media networks are more effective in combating exploitative content than religious groups like NCOSE. And, in the name of the Expose NCOSE campaign: “protect victims, not grifters.”