Controlling the keys to the Golden City

The payment ecosystem and the regulation of adult webcamming and subscription-based fan platforms

Bibliographic Data

ID7477100
AuthorsRébecca S Franco (0000-0002-3197-5383, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume28
Issue2
Pages879-898
Publication date2024-12-11
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueNew Media & Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1461-4448 • E-ISSN: 1461-7315
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/14614448241303465
OpenAlexW4405345960
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited42

This article examines the role of payment intermediaries in regulating the platformized adult industry and demonstrates how the adult industry responds to their power and the rules they set. Based on 16 expert interviews, fieldwork at 3 industry conferences, and document analysis of rules, content guidelines, terms, and conditions, the author teases out the intricate interplay between credit card networks, payment processors, and adult platforms. Visa and Mastercard’s rules, enforced by payment processors and implemented by platforms, create a selective, private ordering of permissible content that surpasses legal requirements. This process is impelled by the brand safety and commercial interests of global corporations, without accountability to the industry or consideration for sex workers’ needs. The article calls for the need to hold payment intermediaries as de facto regulators of online sexual commerce and key actors in platform governance accountable toward the industry and workers they impact

Accountability · Business · Corporate governance · Credit card · Intermediary · Internet privacy · Payment · Payment service provider · Political science · Process (computing · Computer Science · Digital Economy and Work Transformation · Law · Sex work and related issues · Sharing Economy and Platforms · Finance · Marketing