Twitter has decided to suspend my account, @SydneyScreams4u! I’m really upset about it, but don’t worry, I’m still online. I’m not retiring, I’m not quitting, I’m still making adult content. I’m just not on Twitter… at least, for now.

So, what happened? I have a few theories. One, I was targeted by another Twitter user who felt that I had done them wrong. They tweeted that they had reported me and encouraged all of their followers to do the same thing. Shortly after I saw that, when I logged into Twitter the next time, I was asked to update my header photo which I did. Then, several weeks later, I received notice that my account was temporarily suspended. I started my twitter account in 2009, I believe… over 10 years of tweets, images, etc gone.

The other theories are likely the root cause though: Ever since FOSTA/SESTA was passed, Twitter and other websites have been cracking down on adult accounts. Then, a member of anti-porn group Exodus Cry published an oped calling for Visa & Mastercard to cut ties with MindGeek, the owners of sites like PornHub. This set a dangerous precedent that credit card companies be allowed to have say over what is and is not allowed online, even if content is perfectly legal. PornHub stopped being able to process credit card payments, and has been deleting content that the credit card companies deem unacceptable even though are not illegal. Everything from bondage to fauxcest to pet play has been targeted and removed not just by PornHub, but by other major amateur sites such as Clips4Sale, ManyVids and IWantClips. This is a huge problem.

Credit card companies currently monopolize the means of payment processing. Sure, there’s bitcoin and crypto currency options, but there are good reasons why these aren’t accepted more widely.

The internet as a whole is cracking down on adult services, and not only are adult content creators at risk, but so are you. Censorship by credit card companies is dangerous. Rather than content being regulated by actual laws, content is being regulated by credit card companies.

So what can you do?

Write to your elected federal officials and ask them to implement laws that restrict credit card companies from censoring legal goods and services. It’s really easy to do this! I know it sounds daunting, but it’s not. If you have a phone, you can do it. If you text “Resist” to 50409, you can use ResistBot to email you elected officials about this! It’ll walk you thru the steps, first collecting your information to verify who your elected officials are, then you’ll be able to write them emails and sign petitions that are sent to those officials. It’s easy and ResistBot will save your information so that next time you want to write your officials, it’s a shorter process.

What else can you do? Tweet at @Visa and @Mastercard that you don’t agree with their censorship and demand that you, a consumer, have the right to pick and chose what goods & services you want to use your credit card to purchase.

Finally, if you want to help me try to get my Twitter account back, I’d really appreciate if you tweeted to @twittersupport a message supporting my account @sydneyscreams4u be reinstated by them.

Censorship of sex workers isn’t new. We’ve been pushed out of the public eye, and the further they try to push us down, the more dangerous our work becomes. If you watch porn or enjoy services from any type of adult provider, it is your responsibility to help us fight.