The Advertising Struggle: FOSTA-SESTA's Real-World Impact

Posted by Maria Rodriguez | March 28, 2025

"April 6th, 2018 was the day my business almost died," Samantha told me, the date rolling off her tongue like she was reciting a tragic anniversary. "That's when FOSTA-SESTA went into effect, and within 24 hours, every platform I used to advertise safely just... disappeared."

I've heard this date mentioned so many times during my two years of reporting that I've memorized it myself. April 6th, 2018—the day the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA) and Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA) became law, fundamentally changing how sex workers can advertise their services online.

The legislation was supposedly designed to combat sex trafficking by making websites liable for user-generated content that could facilitate prostitution. But after interviewing more than 150 people in this industry, I can tell you that the real-world impact has been the opposite of what lawmakers intended: it made sex workers less safe, not more protected.

The Day the Internet Went Dark

"I woke up that Friday morning and Backpage was gone," Maya recalled, describing the immediate aftermath. "Then Craigslist killed their entire personals section. Then Reddit banned a bunch of sex work communities. It was like watching the infrastructure of our industry disappear in real time."

The scale of the platform shutdowns was staggering. Backpage, which hosted the majority of sex work advertising in the US, shut down completely. Craigslist eliminated personal ads entirely rather than risk liability. Smaller sites that catered to sex workers either closed or implemented such restrictive policies that they became unusable.

"In one day, I lost access to the three platforms that generated 90% of my clients," said Elena, the luxury escort I've written about extensively. "I went from having a steady business with reliable marketing channels to scrambling to figure out how to find clients without getting arrested."

The immediate financial impact was devastating for many sex workers. "My income dropped by 70% in the first month after FOSTA-SESTA," recalled Jessica. "I had to pick up a vanilla job just to pay rent while I figured out new ways to advertise."

The Safety Catastrophe

What lawmakers didn't anticipate—or chose to ignore—was how centralized platforms like Backpage actually enhanced safety for sex workers or Asian escorts rather than endangering them.

"Backpage had screening features, client verification systems, and community reporting tools," explained Thomas. "When someone was dangerous, word spread quickly through the platform's messaging system. It wasn't perfect, but it was way safer than the alternatives."

The elimination of these platforms forced sex workers onto smaller, less regulated sites with fewer safety features. "Now I advertise on eight different sites instead of two reliable ones," said Victoria. "None of them have the same screening tools or community safety features that the bigger platforms had."

Even worse, many sex workers were pushed back toward street-based work or relying on third-party intermediaries—exactly the scenarios that put people at higher risk of exploitation. "Some of my friends went back to working the streets because they couldn't figure out online advertising," Maya told me. "How is that making anyone safer?"

The Advertising Scatter

The post-FOSTA-SESTA landscape forced sex workers to fragment their advertising across dozens of smaller platforms, each with different rules, audiences, and safety features.

"I now maintain profiles on twelve different sites," said Carmen, showing me her exhausting daily routine of updating multiple platforms. "Skip the Games, Adult Search, Escort Alligator, various city-specific sites, plus Twitter and Instagram accounts that I have to keep carefully curated to avoid getting banned."

This fragmentation increased both costs and time investment. "Before, I could spend an hour updating my ads and be done for the week," explained Elena. "Now I spend 10-15 hours weekly managing my online presence across all these different platforms. It's like having a second job just to advertise my first job."

The smaller platforms also charge more per user and provide less reach. "Backpage ads cost $10 and reached thousands of potential clients," noted Jessica. "Now I spend $200 monthly across multiple sites to reach maybe half as many people."

The Technology Arms Race

FOSTA-SESTA accelerated technological innovation in the sex work community, but not in ways that lawmakers anticipated. Sex workers became early adopters of privacy tools, cryptocurrency, and decentralized platforms.

"I learned more about digital security in six months after FOSTA-SESTA than in my entire previous life," said Maya. "VPNs, encrypted messaging, cryptocurrency payments, offshore hosting—we all became tech experts out of necessity."

Some sex workers started building their own websites and marketing directly through social media. "I invested $3,000 in a professional website and started building my brand on Twitter," explained Victoria. "It took two years to rebuild the client base I had before, but now I have more control over my marketing."

The International Platform Shift

One unintended consequence was driving sex work advertising to international platforms outside US jurisdiction. Sites hosted in other countries became popular alternatives, but they often lacked the safety features and legal protections of US-based platforms.

"I advertise on sites hosted in Canada, the Netherlands, and Germany now," said Elena. "But if something goes wrong—if a site gets hacked or my information gets stolen—I have no legal recourse because they're outside US law."

This international shift also made law enforcement's job harder, not easier. "If the goal was to help law enforcement track trafficking, pushing everything onto foreign platforms seems counterproductive," observed one law enforcement contact who spoke off the record.

The Innovation Response

Despite the challenges, the sex work community showed remarkable adaptability and innovation in response to FOSTA-SESTA.

"We became incredibly resourceful, incredibly quickly," reflected Samantha. "New communities formed on encrypted messaging apps. People started building personal brands on social media. Some developed sophisticated client referral networks that didn't depend on advertising at all."

The legislation inadvertently accelerated the professionalization of sex work in some segments. "When you can't rely on platforms to bring you clients, you have to build real businesses with websites, branding, and marketing strategies," noted Thomas.

The Ironic Outcomes

Perhaps the most tragic irony is that FOSTA-SESTA appears to have made trafficking harder to detect and prosecute, not easier.

"When everything was on Backpage, law enforcement could monitor one platform and track suspicious patterns," explained a former prosecutor I interviewed. "Now trafficking operations use the same scattered, encrypted channels as consensual sex workers. It's much harder to distinguish between trafficking and voluntary sex work."

The legislation also pushed consensual adult sex work into the same spaces used by actual traffickers. "Before, legitimate escort services and trafficking operations used different platforms," said Jessica. "Now we're all mixed together on the same sketchy sites, which makes everyone less safe."

The Ongoing Struggle

Six years later, sex workers are still adapting to the post-FOSTA-SESTA landscape. New platforms emerge regularly, but they're constantly under legal pressure and threat of shutdown.

"Every few months, another platform disappears without warning," said Maya. "You never know if the site you're advertising on today will exist tomorrow. It makes it impossible to build stable marketing strategies."

The constant platform instability has psychological effects beyond the business impact. "There's this constant anxiety about losing your ability to advertise safely," reflected Carmen. "You're always looking over your shoulder, waiting for the next shutdown."

Looking Forward

The sex work community continues to innovate around FOSTA-SESTA's restrictions, but the fundamental problem remains: legislation intended to enhance safety created a more dangerous, fragmented environment.

"We've adapted as much as we can, but the basic reality is that FOSTA-SESTA made our work more dangerous and difficult," summarized Elena. "It didn't stop sex work or reduce trafficking—it just pushed everything underground and made everyone less safe."

As I reflect on the dozens of conversations I've had about FOSTA-SESTA's impact, I'm struck by the gap between legislative intentions and real-world outcomes. The law was supposed to protect vulnerable people, but it ended up harming the very community it claimed to help.