Don’t Panic!

2019 is coming. And it seems like more than a few people are worried about what is going to happen to our community in the new year. I’ve posted on this site about the possibility of some prosecutors and law enforcement agencies going after our websites in the new year. And others have expressed worries that 2019 will see some sort of purge of the online sex community.

Don’t Panic!

Seriously, do not get overly worked up. I am fairly certain that 2019 will bring with in more than one FOSTA battle. But I doubt there will be any wide scale attack on our websites. Why? Because it takes a lot of work and money for them to shut us down.

There is no simple way for law enforcement to come after all the sites at once. They are far to distributed and separate. There are all sorts of legal activities that need to be done before the government can actually pull the plug on any website.

So there is no need to worry about waking up on January 1st and finding all your websites closed. That’s just not going to happen. There is no need to go through all your accounts and erase pictures and information. It’s already out there, so it’s too late anyway. But more importantly, it is just not worth the effort.

Will there be websites that come under fire from the government? Yes. They will likely start by going after a site they think they can shut down quickly and easily. They will want their first use of FOSTA to be a quick and easy victory. So that means a US-based site with few resources that is clearly violating multiple aspects of the FOSTA law. That is the most logical type of target. The Feds will want to go after a site that won’t be able to fight back and won’t be likely to get much support from civil rights groups. After they have a victory, then they will target others.

But it takes resources for the government to do operations like these. And time. So it will be a one site at a time sort of thing.

After they get a victory, they will want to try and silence those who oppose them. So that means going after the advocates. Once again, they will look for the smallest, least funded target. Someone who they think can’t fight back. This will end up being their mistake. Because someone like that can and will get the support of a civil rights group, and they will fight back.

But your ads, my dear ladies, will still be up come the New Year. You’ll still be able to work. So there is no need to really fear. Guys, you will still be able to look for that perfect—or at least available—lady. No worries there.

Sure, a site here or there may go dark, but we are used to that now. The only thing we really need to be prepared to do is for each of us to chip in a little help when the Feds do turn their attention to one of our community’s advocates. We need to be able to help them fight. Considering how many workers and clients there are, we should be able to mount on hell of fight. So don’t panic, but get a few dollars ready for the fight.