Sex workers may lose big time due to Twitter Blue

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Sex workers may lose big time due to Twitter Blue

As Twitter’s iconic blue check shifts from a badge of legitimacy to a signal that you pay the company eight dollars a month, some high-profile users have campaigned to #BlockTheBlue. In other words, they want to block all users who subscribe to Twitter Blue by using automated scripts and plug-ins.

The idea behind the movement is that if someone is willingly giving Twitter a monthly payment for a blue check, they probably align with the so-called “anti-woke” politics that Musk and his confidants routinely espouse.

There is some merit to this: Crypto spam accounts have leveraged Twitter Blue to boost their own visibility, while others are simply posting vile takes. But for some online creators and sex workers, Twitter Blue is essential to surviving on the platform, even if they don’t support Musk’s changes to Twitter.

Ashley, a sex worker and researcher, said “people are motivated to pay for software based on use case, not political leaning.”

For sex workers, who have been repeatedly deplatformed, shadowbannedand cut off from life-sustaining income sources, eight dollars is worth the safety net that Twitter Blue provides. Aside from a blue check — which some subscribers don’t even want, since it now carries a stigma — Twitter Blue offers prioritized search rankings, SMS two-factor authentication and longer video uploads.