Years later, the relevance of OnlyBans endures

Making money online should be a relatively simple process. You provide your goods and services, those interested purchase them, and there’s usually some division of the profits between you and the distributor.

What happens when you throw moral objections, political obstacles, and intentional obfuscation for the sake of exploitation into the mix? That’s what OnlyBans seeks to explore, and the results speak volumes regarding the conditions online sex workers face. Though the issues that it examines are real, it manages to tackle them with humor and sincerity.

The premise of the online game isn’t particularly complicated. You’re hoping to earn $200 to pay your gas and water bills in 6 weeks. With each fan on the online platform netting you $10, it shouldn’t take you long in theory. In reality, things are a little more complex than they initially appear.

Screenshot by Destructoid. A team effort OnlyBans illustrates the ways online sex workers have had to band together to teach each other how to navigate the industry. Doing favors for each other such as “share4share” is illustrated, info on how to prevent your images from being stolen is shared, and it’s shown how some workers are “avoiding shadowbanning by identifying as ‘male’ on their profile.”

Similarly, workers in the industry have had to rally together to fight against many of the issues brought up in the game. A few are listed on the About page, including Hacking//Hustling, which is a “collective of sex workers, survivors, and accomplices working at the intersection of tech and social justice to interrupt state surveillance and violence facilitated by technology.”

Screenshot by Destructoid. No money, more problems As I played, it became evident that there were multiple attempts to get me screwed out of my money, and they were coming from all angles. At first, it came in the form of an account lock that required my real-life details to unlock.

It’s frustrating, but still somewhat understandable if the “safety reasons” include age verification. From this point onwards, the reason for the account bans gets a little more ridiculous, including one for posting “dangerous content.”

Hidden deep in the user agreements is the stipulation that the platform doesn’t “allow users to buy or sell sexually oriented digital goods or content delivered through a digital medium.” To make matters worse, most choices are made by AI.

It doesn’t make much sense to me at all at first, but as an in-game friend in the industry explains, “after the US Congress passed a law called FOSTA-SESTA in 2018, platforms started making stricter moderation policies and banning sex worker accounts.”

I tried contesting the decision, but that only resulted in my account being frozen for 180 days. Not useful when there are bills to pay today.

Screenshot by Destructoid. Left voiceless FOSTA-SESTA are federal bills passed in 2018 to curb online sex trafficking. As Stop SESTA/FOSTA argues, it doesn’t punish traffickers, though it does impede on free speech, and “since Congress passed SESTA/FOSTA, owners of popular online platforms have responded by censoring completely lawful activity from their sites. Other sites hosting lawful activity have shut down entirely.”

There’s also the issue of not having those most affected by these policies given a chance to have a meaningful influence on how they’re implemented. As an in-game buddy highlights, “it’s not like lawmakers or tech companies consult with sex workers on these policies.”

It’s a deep-rooted issue that would continue to exist even if FOSTA-SESTA was repealed, as a new law could always just replace it. Hence, one in-game friend suggests we “get sex workers better represented at tech companies so we can change things from the inside.”

There’s also the problem of shame and stigma which is highlighted. Depending on the choices you make, you could find yourself with the prospect of people in your personal life discovering your account, even the devoutly religious.

You can try to prevent this, but it potentially requires quitting the project altogether. On one playthrough, I was discovered by an old friend on a site reposting my content, which led me to the revelation that “45% of sex workers have had their images or content used for a fake account (e.g., catfishing).”

Screenshot by Destructoid. Tackling real-world problems Released in 2021, OnlyBans was created by a team of sex workers and allies to illustrate the kinds of policing and discrimination faced by sex workers online. Taking inspiration from research by Hacking//Hustling, the experience is as educative as it is entertaining, with the cherry on top being its attempt to imagine ways to combat the issues presented.

In 2023, it still receives updates, and some of the problems presented have yet to be solved. Speaking to Destructoid, Software Engineer Maggie Oates delves into the continuing relevance of OnlyBans, stating the following:

“From my view, it seems like there’s a broader normalization of online sex workers in everyday culture. Many people started or shifted to online work in 2020 during pandemic lockdowns. There’s small indicators like the addition of “sex worker” to Dictionary.com. However, we’ve also seen a continued increase in censorship of sex and activism-related content. Anti-porn and anti-sex work advocates have found a powerful strategy by lobbying the financial industry; many platforms have been pressured to remove sexual content if they want to keep processing payments from major credit card processors. In 2021, OnlyFans announced they would no longer support sex work on the platform, a decision they later reversed after huge pushback from sex workers (and likely a hard look at possible lost profits). Banks continue to be hostile to sex workers, even small independent workers doing completely legal work. We’ve also seen multiple states propose or pass unwieldy legislation to increase age screening online, which often have the effect of either obliterating all content to an entire state or lead to increase censorship, as platforms ‘clean up’ their sites.”

Creator Lena Chen also comments, adding “I think the general public today are much more conscious and critical about social media censorship, especially in the aftermath of crackdowns on political content related to BLM and now Palestine. Whereas deplatforming of sex workers was considered a somewhat niche issue a few years ago, people now realize this has a much farther ranging impact (and sex workers weren’t being alarmist but rather predicted precisely how these technologies would evolve into tools of political suppression.)”

As for future updates, they’re not out of the question but hopefully, something that’s decreasingly necessary. As Oates explains: “while we don’t have any immediate plans for updates the game is still a ‘living document.’ I’m sure we’ll update it in response to current moment. I look forward to the time when the game’s content is kind of irrelevant… when sex workers are able to coexist with other content creators in appropriate and accessible spaces.”

Both poignant and satirical, OnlyBans is a unique game that not only entertains but shines a spotlight on a multifaceted issue. As a bonus, you can aim for a surreal ending that provides perhaps the most humorous moments of all.

Smangaliso Simelane

Staff Writer – Smangaliso Simelane is a writer with a passion for all things related to video games. He has been writing about video games since 2020.