Free Speech Coalition Issues Statement About ‘Outing’ Porn Models, and Privacy

Though we haven’t dealt too much with porn models being “outed” with their real names or information on The Sword, we do it see it sometimes in the comments, with commenters trying to share private information about a performer for some reason or other. These comments are always deleted.

But because of the proliferation of social media, and the platform that Twitter provides, such outings can get more dangerous now that they can be spread to a wide audience quickly.

In response to such events, industry advocacy group and trade association the Free Speech Coalition has issued a statement today, perhaps geared toward fans as much as to porn blogs, or anyone who wants to out an adult performer.

“Several years ago,” says the statement, “we witnessed the grossest example [of an ‘outing’ attempt] when identifying information of thousands of adult performers, including real names and addresses was posted online. [The Porn Wikileaks scandal.] But the truth is these sometimes life-threatening ‘outings,’ whether they’re the work of a stalker, an ex-lover or a rival, have become all too common.” And they say, too often, free speech is being used as a defense for committing these outings. So, since they’re the Free Speech Coalition, they decided to make this proclamation, or admonition, or whatever it is.

Here it is in full, from attorney and FSC board member Reed Lee.

The adult entertainment industry has long been at the forefront of the struggle for freedom of speech. It has also been instrumental in pressing for full protection of personal autonomy — the right of each of us to live as we please, in peace. At the Free Speech Coalition, we are proud of our heritage; and we always know that we fight for real rights for real people. We have seen the power of speech to change the world; and we have seen our speech help to protect and enhance personal autonomy. That is why we think it is important, from time to time, to reflect on the values and the purposes which free expression serves and promotes.

In almost every situation, each individual has the legal right to disseminate truthful information to those who want to hear or see it. This is as it should be. The Free Speech Coalition continues to fight for that right — pressing our points in the public sphere and, when absolutely necessary, litigating to protect and expand those rights. This is not to say that all constitutionally protected expression is beyond criticism. Happily, there is no contradiction between defending the right of the Westboro Baptist Church followers to disseminate their hateful and reactionary speech and denouncing that speech itself as — hateful and reactionary.

There is a place, too, to criticize speech — even constitutionally protected speech — within our industry when it violates an individual’s personal autonomy by threatening the personal security that makes participation in the adult entertainment industry—or any social movement — possible for real people. Just as the First Amendment recognizes the value of truthful speech, it also recognizes the practical need for many who participate in controversial movements to avoid recrimination and retaliation by remaining anonymous or by using pseudonyms. This is why the United States Supreme Court protects the right of leafleters to disseminate anonymous handbills — someone pressing an unpopular cause need not sign his or her name. And when, in the thick of the civil rights movement, southern governments sought disclosure of the NAACP’s membership list, the Court protected the privacy of the members. Even today, the Free Speech Coalition litigates against the federal government without revealing our membership list.

When it comes to our own identities, we must all bear in mind the world we live in. Many of us are fortunate enough that we can afford to be open about our connection with the adult entertainment industry and our advocacy of the freedoms it promotes. But many of us are not. Each of us, then, is entitled to make our own decision about how we identify ourselves to the world — how much of our identities and the details of our lives other people will know. Only by respecting this individual right can we ensure that others will be willing to stand with us and work with us — and that they will be safe in doing so. Free speech has consequences. Revealing private information about those we know in the adult entertainment industry — information which an individual has chosen to keep private — risks making it impossible for us to build the kind of social movement we need to defend ourselves. It risks ruining lives which have been devoted to our work and our cause. In some cases, it may risk consequences more serious than we know or care to imagine. In a world which is still — at some times and in some places—viciously hostile to us, we all need to respect every individual’s choice to participate without revealing our legal names or other private matters about our lives. And when people sometimes forget the need for that respect, it is no compromise with free speech to criticize them for that. Because free speech really does have consequences. Use it, but use it wisely.

13 thoughts on “Free Speech Coalition Issues Statement About ‘Outing’ Porn Models, and Privacy”

  1. Lost me at “Social Movement”. It’s about money! And they don’t want the desperate performers who are ashamed of what they do to stop coming to them for fear of exposure. Exploiting their desperation makes them a lot of money.

    I watch porn to celebrate sex not to have it shamed.

    Anyone who participates should know the risk of being found out. And producers should be committed to properly informing them of such instead of lying to them. A lot of these straight guys are convinced no one will ever find out. I feel sorry for their girlfriends, shouldn’t they have a right to know.

    1. Agree entirely. The timing is this posting from the “Free Speech Coalition” is quite amusing. Of course, porn is all about money. If G4Pers or even gay-boys in porn don’t want to be exposed, there is a simple choice: don’t do it. Since when is anyone obliged not to deduce from information on the Internet, be it the Book of Faces, porn blogs, or whatever and report that a particular person with a name is also a porn model? We didn’t see the court suppress Teofil Brank’s real name in case he was found innocent. Is everyone else supposed to keep a secret for strangers who make money out of the paying public by engaging in activities they would rather not be exposed? Stalkers are not new and restricted to porn models. That’s what restraining orders are for. I suspect the motivation behind this posting is because there is a porn industry desperately trying to reinvent itself and keep the gravy train flowing in an environment where the range of models is decreasing for lots of reasons, including the risk of being exposed.

  2. I don’t have sympathy for people who don’t own up to who they are. IF you do porn, be honest about it. It really sets things up to remove people out of your life that shouldn’t be there and likewise. The things human beings do just be avoid being alone, cultivating a persona to avoid real connections with people.

  3. The porn industry should be worried about their models being out for one reason and one reason only, we can see what absolute assholes they are when we see their social media. Curtis from Sean Cody is a prime example. His facebook is linked on another blog and the stuff he posts is so fucking racist. And that is just one of their models, there are 4 other linked who are just as fucked up. They could hurt a brand.

    1. Well, let’s face it, when you are wanking to your spank bank you don’t want to know who this person really is. Else, you’d be horrified.

      These are not individuals you’d see a lot of people hang around.

  4. Obnoxious though it is, when you go into the public eye (and that includes porn modeling), you implicitly agree to having some of your rights removed. I do not say “right to privacy”, since *technically* there is not an official right for specifically for that. In the age of the internet, personal space for public people gets smaller. If porn models want to have a private sphere, one thing that could help is avoid social media–no Facebook, no Twitter, no Instagram. That will not happen in many cases, because a lot of these guys escort, and social media is how they market the meat. The less of your private life you make public, theoretically the less people are going to want to nose around in your business–a lot of these fucked up 20something porn guys should take note of that. Stop oversharing, Ryan Rose–your relationship issues are not our business. Stop tweeting who wants to sit on your face, Hunter Vance–that is none of our business. All of that information you put out is like herpes–it will flare up when you least expect it & make your life unpleasant for an extended period of time.

    1. Miles of Isles

      for someone who doesn’t care, you sure seem to be riveted to everything they say and do online in their private lives….

  5. I assume the timing of this is not coincidental with the recent Str8upgayporn post identifying the blogger from QueerMeNow by name. I am curious if this body has any capacity for sanctions or are they just weighing in on the acts?

    1. sure, all true. but why publicly post what you found.

      the thing to ask yourself is this, “would i want something like this happening to me?” every time you are about to do something questionable.

      just a thought.

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