What is shadowbanning?
Shadowbanning occurs when a platform limits the reach of a user's posts on social media without notifying them. The term can also refer to the limiting of hashtags or specific kinds of content. Unlike outright deplatforming, shadowbanned accounts and content may still be visible, but with reduced reach; they may not appear in recommendations, search results, or on other users' content feeds.
Major reporting and research suggest that these techniques are widely used, particularly affecting sex workers and other marginalised communities. Platforms that covertly limit the reach of certain kinds of content without removing it can avoid accusations of censorship. Hacking/Hustling says shadowbanning can best be understood as “platform gaslighting,” as platforms can deny any wrongdoing or interference with content they find ‘problematic’, yet the effect is still experienced by the silenced user.
The history of shadowbanning
Platforms have been limiting the reach of users they find problematic since the 1980s. Early forums were able to stealth ban users, which meant they could still see forum content, but nobody could see their posts. This method protected users from the content of bots, spammers, and trolls, and stealth banning is still used for these purposes on sites like Reddit today.
What we call shadowbanning traces back to mid‑2010s social media and state censorship practices. In Turkey, authorities have repeatedly pressured platforms like Twitter (now X) to restrict or block accounts and content critical of the government, leading to widespread limitations on political expression online. Human Rights Watch and other rights groups have documented how these government‑linked blocking orders and restrictions amount to targeted suppression of free expression on social media.
Back in the day, shadowbanning was mostly done by human moderators, but today algorithms largely determine which content and accounts are restricted, leaving little room for nuance and few options to appeal.
Why do platforms shadowban?
While initially used to minimise the reach of trolls, bots, and various kinds of misinformation, social media platforms such as TikTok, Meta, and X (formerly Twitter) now reportedly use methods like shadowbanning to censor content that may be deemed ‘borderline’: dangerous, distasteful, or undesirable. As time has passed, reports of censorship have evolved to include topics such as Israel’s war on Gaza, LBGTQ+ and sex positive content, fat people, BIPOC creators, and sex workers.
Government influence and increasingly conservative mindsets play a role in shadowbanning. Since FOSTA/SESTA laws passed, platforms are more likely to err on the side of caution when it comes to sex work-related content to avoid any accusations of trafficking.
Platforms often shadowban users in groups. “If you’re in the sex work community, you might notice that when somebody gets shadowbanned, it feels like everybody gets shadowbanned,” says Hoss, a software engineer and porn producer, in an interview at Bedside Productions. This is because algorithms wait for time to pass and interactions to happen in order to find more people to shadowban.
How does shadowbanning affect sex workers?
In a Medium article from 2023, Joan Westerberg said, “For sex workers worldwide, the internet provides an irreplaceable lifeline. Online platforms grant safety, community, and autonomy that would have been unimaginable decades ago. By leveraging technology, sex workers have built vital digital infrastructure to protect themselves in an often hostile world.” Sex workers use social media to advertise, to work more safely, to build community, and organise. When sex workers' social media reach is limited, it becomes essentially useless for these purposes.
The idea behind shadowbanning is that ‘problematic’ users will give up and leave once they realise the platform isn’t serving its purpose. But leaving social media leaves sex workers without forums to connect with customers and each other, thus affecting their incomes, their safety, and isolating them from their peers. Shadowbanning leaves sex workers out in the cold.
How can I tell if I’ve been shadowbanned?
Firstly, you might check your engagement. How does one type of content perform against another? Nudes versus mere lewds? What are your likes and views compared to others? If you’re LGBTIQA+ or BIPOC, you might check your likes and views against those of hetero or white creators. This is because queer people and women of colour are far more likely to be shadowbanned than their white, cis, straight counterparts, often due to tech biases and the prevalence of cishet white culture in programming.
You can also ask other people to search your account to see if it comes up (though make sure they don’t already follow you as this may skew results.) Ask them to look up keywords and hashtags you use to see if your profile shows in these searches.
Can I avoid being shadowbanned?
Shadowbanning is not easy to avoid. If you’re a sex worker and you post about it, it’s likely you will experience it. Your whole account could be shadowbanned, or it might just apply to specific posts you’ve made. You might find ways to get around certain content being shadowbanned—for tips, search for the terms seggs and corn which are proliferating on socials.
You can ensure you use different devices for your sex worker and civvie accounts to keep them separate, and never connect to wifi with your sex work device. Also be aware that if you create a new account to circumvent being deleted or shadowbanned, internet tracking will give you away. “That’s why you see people getting shadowbanned again and again: even if they make new social media accounts, they’re still using the phone which they used when they got flagged in the first place,” says Hoss in the interview at Bedside Productions.
It’s best if you can uninstall apps that track you (I recommend the Proton suite of products!) There are loads of platforms on which you can diversify your socials and other ways your pals and audience can find and follow you (Bluesky! Upscrolled! Telegram! Newsletters!)
Finally, it sucks but it helps to play it safe: sticking to the platform’s community guidelines, not mentioning spicy stuff or other spicy platforms in specific terms, and avoiding posting nudes. BORING, but you’re less likely to find yourself shadowbanned.
None of these methods are 100% reliable, though. Hacking/Hustling calls platforms’ guidelines, “intentionally vague and applied differently to different people.” At Tits and Sass, a blog for and by sex workers, Lynn says, “You can try to stay under the radar and not attract the attention of would-be morality police. But, fundamentally, you are at the mercy of unknown policies and algorithm math.”
Are you a sex worker with a story, opinion, news, or tips to share? We'd love to hear from you!
We started the tryst.link sex worker blog to help amplify those who aren't handed the mic and bring attention to the issues ya'll care about the most. Got a tale to tell? 👇☂️✨
