Sex workers disappointed with Musk Despite paying for X premium

With the paid blue badge in X Premium, users are assured of higher rankings, prioritized replies from verified accounts over non-verified ones, and an enhanced level of engagement.

San Francisco: Sex workers are crying over Elon Musk’s fresh crackdown on the not safe for work (NSFW) posts on X being treated as “sensitive material”, saying they feel betrayed despite paying for the platform’s $8 a month subscription service.

The paid blue badge under X Premium promises prioritised rankings, and replies from verified users higher than replies from non-verified users and a boost in engagement.

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However, professional sex workers say they “feel fooled by Musk’.

“It has done basically nothing for my Twitter engagement. I feel like a fool for paying for it. I feel fooled by Elon Musk,” Mistress Rouge, a professional dominatrix, told TechCrunch.

Under Musk’s leadership, X has become increasingly hostile toward explicit content.

Last week, X started flagging NSFW posts as “sensitive material,” and restricting flagged accounts to limit their reach.

Sex workers said their engagement has dropped and “their accounts no longer show up in X’s search”.

Mistress Rogue is among several sex workers who want to cancel their X subscriptions.

“I thought it would help my engagement but now I feel like it’s a waste of money,” Mistress Rogue was quoted as saying.

Sex workers were quick to adopt Twitter Blue in hopes that the boost in engagement would shield them from the shadow-banning and disproportionate censorship, said the report.

The crackdown has affected accounts regardless of their X premium subscription.

A sex worker who goes by Mara Villana on X warned fellow NSFW creators that her verified account was flagged and restricted.

Twitter allowed consensual pornographic content but X’s sensitive media policy forbids adult nudity and sexual behaviour, defined as “that is pornographic or intended to cause sexual arousal.”

The policy applies to full or partial nudity, simulated sex acts and sexual acts depicted by “cartoons, hentai, or anime involving humans or depictions of animals with human-like features.”

Under X’s policy, even suggestive imagery is flagged as sensitive media.

“I honestly don’t understand why X is targeting porn content on this site when there is dangerous misinformation, racism and bigotry freely flowing from this site,” Villana was quoted as saying.