Madison Elliott had been doing online sex work for a few months when she googled her ‘cam girl’ alias on a whim in 2019. A sea of videos popped up – private sessions that had been secretly recorded and uploaded to underground video-sharing porn sites (‘tube sites’) without her consent. “My stomach sank, I thought ‘oh my god’,” recalled Madison. “I panicked, naturally.”
Madison is one of many image-based sexual abuse (IBSA) survivors who told openDemocracy they feel let down by current controls. Her attempts to remove the videos failed, the police were unable to help, and her physical and mental health suffered.
The UK government is attempting to tackle digital abuse with its new landmark Online Safety Bill. This introduces a “duty of care” for tech platforms that allow users to post content, including social networks such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and video-sharing sites such as YouTube, OnlyFans and Pornhub. They would have to prevent the distribution of material promoting racism, terrorism and child abuse, while also protecting children from viewing “harmful” material and adults from “legal but harmful” content.
