Why Sex Workers Need Their Own Platforms

Introduction

In the digital age, platforms were supposed to mean emancipation: direct access to the market, greater visibility, and fewer intermediaries. But for sex workers, the promise of the platform economy often turned out to be empty. Instead of autonomy, they got new forms of control, instead of protection, new forms of exclusion.

Therefore, the question is no longer whether sex workers need their own platforms. The question is how long we can afford for them not to have them.

Platforms are not neutral infrastructure

Most existing platforms operate on the same pattern: centralized ownership, non-transparent rules, and unilateral decision-making power. Algorithms determine visibility, terms of use change without consent, accounts are closed without explanation.

For sex workers, this means constant uncertainty. Not because they would be acting illegally, but because platforms operate on the logic of risk to their own image and profit. Sex work is acceptable as long as it is profitable – and erasable when it becomes inconvenient.

Intermediaries changed form, not roles

Digital platforms often present themselves as an alternative to classic intermediaries. In practice, however, they have become their evolution. Commissions are higher, rules stricter, and responsibility lower. Risk remains on the side of the workers, while value accumulates elsewhere.

The difference is mainly in invisibility. While the agent was once recognizable, today the intermediary is an algorithm. Faceless, without conversation, and without the possibility of negotiation.

Why a proprietary platform means more than a technological solution

A proprietary platform is not just an app or a website. It is a political-economic decision. It means shifting control over working conditions, visibility, and income back to those who perform the work.

A proprietary platform enables:

co-creation of rules instead of their acceptance,

transparent distribution of income,

security mechanisms adapted to real risks,

and identity protection without exclusion.

It is about infrastructure that does not treat sex work as a risk to the system, but as a reality that needs regulated conditions.

Anonymity as a right, not an obstacle

One of the key reasons for proprietary platforms is the question of anonymity. Most existing systems require the disclosure of more data than necessary, thereby creating additional risks: blackmail, identity disclosure, social and legal consequences.

Proprietary platforms can treat anonymity as a fundamental security feature, not as a suspicious exception. Traceability within the system and protection outwardly are not in conflict – they are a condition for sustainable operation.

Community as the foundation of trust

Trust in the adult industry does not arise from contracts, but from experience. The community has long been the main source of information, warnings, and support. Proprietary platforms acknowledge this reality and formalize it.

Instead of individual improvisation, they offer collective mechanisms:

knowledge sharing,

detection of risky patterns,

community dispute resolution,

and greater bargaining power.

Initiatives like Dobra Družba stem precisely from this realization: security is not a product of technology, but of the relationship between people, supported by the right architecture.

Platforms as a condition of the future, not a privilege

Sex workers do not need their own platforms because they would want to be separate from society, but because the existing infrastructure systematically excluded them. A proprietary platform is not a step away from regulation, but a step towards it – from chaos to structure, from silence to voice.

If the future of work means more digitalization, then it must also mean more rights, more security, and more participation. Without proprietary platforms, sex work will remain trapped between repression and exploitation. With them, it has at least the possibility of becoming a regulated, visible, and responsible activity.

The question, therefore, is not whether sex workers deserve this. The question is whether society is ready to accept the reality that already exists – and finally build a just infrastructure for it.