Future of Sex
tagline
  • Remote Sex
  • Virtual Sex & Entertainment
  • Robots
  • Human Augmentation
  • Sex Tech
  • Dating & Relationships
  • Bizarre Bazaar 18+
  • Future of Sex Community
  • Remote Sex
  • Virtual Sex & Entertainment
  • Robots
  • Human Augmentation
  • Sex Tech
  • Dating & Relationships
  • Bizarre Bazaar 18+
  • Future of Sex Community
  • Designers Unveil Wildly Creative Fashions for Pandemic Living

  • This Stroker Gives Female-like Orgasms to Trans People and Men

  • Lora DiCarlo Responds to WOW Tech Group’s ‘Pleasure Air Technology’ Patent Claims

  • Sex Tech in 2021: What Industry Leaders Expect in the Year Ahead

  • VDOM’s ‘Cyber Penis’ Evolves Wearable Sex Tech for All Genders

  • When Will Male Sex Toys Go Mainstream?

  • The ‘Virtual Girlfriend’ Experience: AI Love Doll Sends Racy Pics and Texts

  • Touching Issues: Are COVID-19 Virtual Relationships Doomed to Fail?

Future of Sex is supported by our readers. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Home > Sex Tech > Cindy Gallop Tells Sex Tech Brands to ‘Take Yourself Out of the Shadows’ Despite Threat of Online Censorship

Sex Tech
Home›Sex Tech›Cindy Gallop Tells Sex Tech Brands to ‘Take Yourself Out of the Shadows’ Despite Threat of Online Censorship

Cindy Gallop Tells Sex Tech Brands to ‘Take Yourself Out of the Shadows’ Despite Threat of Online Censorship

By Valerie Elefante
March 26, 2020
2199
3

Pandering to sex-negative social media sites can make brilliant ideas turn bland, says advertising powerhouse.

Growth estimates of the global sexual wellness market are on the rise. 

Most recently, a report by Stratistics MRC predicted the market to reach a valuation of $123 billion by 2026. Yet the businesses catering to its growing demands face incredible barriers as a result of unfair discrimination and biased censorship. 

Sex tech companies, a large sector within this market, are at the forefront of the fight against online censorship. Their businesses, merely by the nature of their products, face several issues when it comes to advertising, selling, and posting on most mainstream social media channels. 

But when and how certain regulations get applied is ambiguous and, according to many of the women-led sex tech companies, sexist.

Cindy Gallop, an advertising expert and the woman who coined the term “sex tech”, has been confronting censorship issues for more than ten years as she’s tried to sell, advertise, and process payments for her own company, Make Love Not Porn [NSFW]. 

According to Gallop, these obstacles have far-reaching effects beyond just making business operations more difficult.

“People, founders, operating around anything having to do with sex will unconsciously internalize—without even realizing their doing it—society’s disapproval of what they’re doing in a way that negatively impacts your ability to do business and the kind of business that you want,” Gallop said.

Facebook’s oppressive shadow on female sex tech

Facebook’s ad policies, for example, prohibit “adult products or services” from advertising. But here is where the inequality lies: erectile dysfunction medications and male condoms get away with being considered products for “family planning” or “contraception,” two acceptable categories for advertisements. 

Products sold by female sexual wellness companies, on the other hand, are considered solely for sexual “pleasure” or “enhancement,” and so they are prohibited.

Instagram, owned by Facebook, is another battleground where sex tech businesses struggle to promote their products, educate, and connect with their customers.  And now, with the app’s new marketplace feature that launched last year, they are also facing difficulties selling their products. 

The latest Instagram Commerce Policies state, “Listings may not promote the buying, selling, or use of adult products or services” and “Listings may not position products or services in a sexually suggestive manner.” 

But what is unclear is exactly who decides what is considered “sexually suggestive,” an extremely subjective experience.

Examinations into Instagram’s algorithm also reveal how the process used to find and target accounts they deem in violation of their guidelines disproportionately target marginalized communities. 

Banning sexual expression and women’s sexuality

Using certain hashtags can also make it more likely that the algorithm flags your account or you get “shadowbanned,” which means your Instagram account won’t appear in searches. People will have to find your account from an external link in order to be discovered. 

Commonly targeted hashtags include #lesbian, #bi, #curvy, #bodylove, and even #women.

Artists, sex workers, sex educators, and even body-positive models are other folks who face censorship issues online and who rely heavily on technology and social media to run their businesses. 

Rebecca Crow (@riotsandcrows) is an artist and activist who staged a protest in late January outside of Instagram London’s headquarters and had her account with over 700K followers deleted just days afterward. 

Even the hugely popular indie erotic filmmaker Erika Lust (@erikalust) has had to overcome censorship and often speaks out against it. 

In an Instagram post, Lust wrote, “The threat of silencing and censoring of women online will have far-reaching and harmful repercussions on how women fully exercise their right to participate in offline, public life. We must continue to expose and defy the #biasedbanning from monopolistic private tech companies in order to make a change.”

View this post on Instagram

The threat of silencing and censoring of women online will have far-reaching and harmful repercussions on how women fully exercise their right to participate in offline, public life. We must continue to expose and defy the #biasedbanning from monopolistic private tech companies in order to make a change.

A post shared by Erika Lust (@erikalust) on Jun 13, 2019 at 6:10am PDT

How to combat censorship?

Overcoming censorship online is no easy feat, physically or emotionally. 

One approach a few early-stage businesses have taken is to concentrate on discreet design and obscure, minimalist aesthetics. 

For example, a company named Maude that provides sexual wellness products including condoms, lube, and vibrators, could appear to an uncareful eye as merely a candle company.

View this post on Instagram

Things to do when you have to stay at home: each other.

A post shared by maude (@getmaude) on Mar 9, 2020 at 3:01pm PDT

Disguising sex toys as “abstract paperweights” might be one way that sex tech companies can slide under social media’s censorship radar.  

But is that the best strategy for actually addressing the shame and stigma of sex and sexuality plaguing our society? 

Cindy Gallop warns sex tech industry leaders not to lose sight of their missions for the sake of ease or conforming to existing societal norms (if they are unjust). 

She has seen “brilliant ideas” turn “quite bland” for the sake of appeasing the masses or perhaps satisfying investors. But her favorite piece of advice to give founders is to “take yourself out of the shadows.”

“If you concept and design a venture around existing societal bias and prejudice, all you do is reinforce it. I refuse to bow to existing bias and prejudice because I’d rather change it,” Gallop said.

It is no doubt that the sex tech industry currently stands united opposite the big tech giants in the battle against online censorship. 

Now, it is just a matter of figuring out the best tactics to overcome efforts to muzzle healthy and diverse sexual representation.

Image sources: TechCrunch, CindyGallop/Twitter

Valerie Elefante

Val Elefante is the Community Manager of Lips—an emerging social media and commerce platform that provides a safe space online for women and the lgbtqia community to express themselves openly and honestly. She also makes feminist erotic films and writes a weekly newsletter! Learn more at valelefante.com
Previous Article

Norwegian Consumer Council Says Ad Tech in ...

Next Article

Gaming‌ ‌Site‌ ‌EROGAMES‌ ‌Reveals‌ ‌Global‌ ‌Popularity‌ ‌of‌ ...

Related articles More from author

  • Mysteryvibe summer vibrator sale 20% off banner use coupon code RELAX20
    Sex Tech

    MysteryVibe Cuts 20% Off Bendable Smart Vibes During Summer Sale

    August 18, 2020
    By Future of Sex
  • Sex Tech

    Is the Call to Investigate Sex Toy Security Actually a Fearmongering Double Standard?

    June 10, 2017
    By M. Christian
  • The Good, The Bad and The Orwellian Large Banner
    Dating & RelationshipsSex Tech

    Futurist Ross Dawson on Sexbot Sex Educators, Virtual Dating, and the Risks and Rewards of Sex Tech

    June 26, 2020
    By M. Christian
  • RobotsSex Tech

    Dolly Dearest: Photographer Captures Human Desire in the Artificial

    July 7, 2016
    By M. Christian
  • Sex Tech

    Cindy Gallop: Investors Must Forget Fears of Booming Sex Tech Industry

    February 17, 2016
    By Future of Sex
  • Immersive EntertainmentRemote SexSex TechVirtual Sex & Entertainment

    Infographic: The Evolution and State of Teledildonics

    April 5, 2013
    By Damon Brown

  • Image showing Same-Sex Representation in Video Games
    Virtual Sex & Entertainment

    A Way Too Brief History of Queer Love and Trans Identity in Video Games

  • A photo of a "love tester" machine.
    AugmentationImmersive EntertainmentVirtual Sex & Entertainment

    ‘Brainwave Love Checker’ Will Pick Your Ideal VR Girlfriend by Reading Your Mind

  • Immersive EntertainmentVirtual Sex & Entertainment

    Sex and Augmented Reality: Part 1 — What Is AR?

  • TOP REVIEWS

  • Realistic Sex Games

    Review of the Best Most Realistic Sex Games You Can Play [UPDATED]

    0
  • Multiplayer Online Sex Games

    Review of the Best Massively Multiplayer Online Sex Games

    0
  • Sex Games for Mac

    The Best Sex Games for Mac

    0
  • Best Sex Game Apps for Couples

    The Best Sex Game Apps for Couples for 2020 [Updated]

    0
  • The Best RPG Sex Games of 2020

    0

Like Us on Facebook

Latest Tweets

  • Wildly creative designers unveil unique and outlandish fashions made to keep you safe while still getting your haut… https://t.co/J6MHqmrhF7

    11 mins ago
  • The new Ion stroker from @Arcwaveofficial excites pleasure receptors in the frenulum to give the sensation of femal… https://t.co/r6DjPo3Flr

    4 hours ago
  • In a press statement, @LoraDiCarlo_HQ denies claims of patent infringement, alleging the aim of WOW Tech Group's la… https://t.co/9en8yormEy

    19 hours ago
  • Expert insights on #sextech in 2021: *Jeff Bennett/@MedicalMorari *Dema Tio/@Vibease *Angelina Aleksandrovich/… https://t.co/xK2Sm1VY1u

    Jan 15, 2021
  • Seeking to enforce three of its patents covering Womanizer Pleasure Air Technology, WOW Tech Group has sued Lora D… https://t.co/HbjXn1JOij

    Jan 15, 2021
Follow @futureofsex

Follow us

  • Home
  • About
  • ADVERTISE
  • Contribute
  • Story Ideas?
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
© 2011 - 2020 Future Exploration Network
This website or its third-party tools use cookies to improve user experience and track affiliate sales. To learn more about why we need to use cookies, please refer to the Privacy Policy.

By clicking the agree button or continuing to browse through the website, you agree to the use of cookies. Accept Privacy Policy
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary