The TikTok ban is on pause, but for sex workers and educators, the uncertainty remains. Losing access to the platform would mean a devastating blow to their livelihoods and ability to educate and connect.

The TikTok may be paused —but for sex workers and queer folks, the fight isn’t over. Online censorship keeps pushing marginalized creators into the shadows, making it harder to make a living and speak out.

What Would a TikTok Ban Mean for Sex Education?

How TikTok Content Creators Saved Our Sex Lives

If you’ve been online in recent months, you’ve likely heard the buzz about the 

. Trump initially introduced the idea during his first presidency but volleyed the problem to Biden after his departure. 

The latter tried to strong-arm TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to sell to an American subsidiary, citing concerns over data collection. Clips quickly went viral of the incredibly embarrassing hearing where 

TikTok’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew, was grilled relentlessly by lawmakers about his nationality, affiliation with the CCP, and data breaches

However, TikTok initially refused to play ball, which led to a shutdown of the app on the eve of Trump’s inauguration. This “ban” lasted about 12 hours before the President reinstated the app in an epically predictable act of buffoonery. 

But why? What was the point of all this? And more important to our interests, what impact did this have on sex?

TikTok gained massive popularity during the 2020 COVID lockdowns. People bored at home found reprieve and community on the short-format video app, where 30-second dances could launch people to viral fame overnight. But TikTok quickly became much more than a dance app, with creators making educational videos.

Unfortunately, we don’t have time to discuss how TikTok also allowed bat-shit-crazy conspiracies to spread, but that also happened.

Regardless, with its unique algorithm that curated an uncanny ‘For You’ page, users were exposed to ideas that they were unaware of but perfectly matched their interests.

Users often claimed that TikTok knew them better than they knew themselves.

This feeling was especially highlighted for closeted queer people who came out after being shown other queer people living their lives proudly. 

Since 2017 TikTok has accumulated an American user base of over 170 million people

The Bigger Picture: The U.S. Education Crisis

It’s no secret (at least to anyone outside of the US) that public education in America is on a downward spiral, especially when it comes to sex education.

 policies, public schools have become little more than a sparring ground for some of the most insane Christian nationalists to try and eradicate the 

In practice, this means constructing a curriculum of propaganda that erases Black and Indigenous people from history books, removes modern scientific evidence around evolution and climate change, and recasts queerness as a perversion that must be eradicated at all costs.

This ideology naturally aligns with the horrible policies that protect the interests of the ruling class. Of course, this education system creates a docile, uneducated population that is ultimately unable to compete in the global economy in a meaningful capacity. 

More importantly, these cruel policies put the lives of the most vulnerable children even further at risk (which is saying a lot considering these kids are already in constant danger of becoming the next victims of school shootings, another issue that impotent politicians who are bought and sold by the NRA refuse to address). 

But what does any of this have to do with TikTok?

 described the process of media manipulation in his seminal work, 

. Although I would love to dive into this topic, it’s unfortunately, not the point of this article, so please watch this

 if you’re unfamiliar with the concept.

To keep it concise, TikTok blew the lid off of the tightly controlled corporate media apparatus that serves the function of keeping the American population aligned with its imperialist interests. 

Because TikTok is primarily used by people under 30, we saw the emergence of an enormous ideological divide between millennials and Gen-Z’s attitudes that no longer aligned with the ruling class compared to Gen-X and boomers who still upheld American exceptionalism. 

The Impact on Sex, Gender, and Relationships

Capitalism functions by enclosing every aspect of our lives and placing a paywall to access what’s inside. Everything that falls outside of the enclosure is villainized and scapegoated to reinforce the legitimacy of this construct. This idea also applies to sex and gender.

Monogamy, heterosexuality, and cisgender identity all form the “norm” (the superstructure if you want to get technical). 

There are products and services that we are all required to purchase to prove that we abide by these norms, which can then be regulated and monitored by the State. However, many sex and relationship educators, like myself, recognize that gender, sexuality, and relationships exist on a morally neutral spectrum that functions outside and beyond the logic of capitalism.

Sharing these ideas poses a threat because empowering people to live authentically makes them ungovernable. Previously, the state was able to keep a tight grip on these ideas by enforcing 

 (abstinence-only until marriage) sex education curriculums and banning the discussion of queerness. However, TikTok allowed discussions of queerness and non-normative relationships to be accessible.

 the government’s fixation on pinning social woes on trans people to justify banning them from public existence even if they only make up roughly 1.6% of the population

And to state the obvious, trans people are not responsible for the majority of crime in the US (nor are immigrants, documented or not, by the way). Trans people also have nothing to do with the deplorable state of the economy, nor do they have the magical power to “trans” cis people.

What queer people do have is the power to expand our understanding of love and sex. 

While there was no way I could teach these lessons in schools, social media has allowed me to do so. We’re now dealing with unprecedented suppression from an imploding neoliberal government that would rather blame queer people for its failing economy than admit that we have nothing to do with egg prices - only their greed is to blame.

Now, I don’t want to paint a flowery picture of social media companies. Any sex educator and sex worker can tell you that these platforms are not our friends. Even if many of us could find communities of people who are receptive to our ideas, we still have to jump through countless hoops.

Running a successful adult business isn’t easy; it requires a tremendous amount of tenacity, and many of us burn out rather quickly. 

It’s important to remember that these social media platforms are capitalist products whose primary goal is to keep us engaged to extract as much behavioral data as possible to make profits on advertising (read 

 if you want to understand how this new digital capitalism operates). 

Yet, for hundreds of thousands of Americans who received inaccurate information about sex and relationships in school, being able to learn about their bodies, gender, sexual orientations, kinks, and more has been extremely liberating. 

While we can’t divorce the poor working conditions of sex educators and sex workers from the product of their labor, the mere fact that information has become more accessible is in itself progress.

History shows us a clear cycle of expanded consciousness followed by brutal repression. 

Susan Faludi explains in her book Backlash: The Undeclared War Against Women

, mass media propagates narratives about the consequences of liberation movements, helping to pave the way for subsequent repressive policies. Every sexual revolution and progress towards equal rights have been met with violence and rollbacks - this time is no different. 

Anita Bryant’s crusade against gay rights

J.K. Rowling spewing inflammatory lies about trans women

, stoking the flames of repression. The only difference is that today, these battles are largely being waged in digital spaces, such as TikTok.I

Despite the horrors and massive suffering during the COVID pandemic, it’s undeniable that for many people, the reprieve from social scrutiny offered the necessary conditions to interrogate and discover their identities.

The panic over the “woke mind virus” was largely ignited by conservatives, including billionaire Elon Musk, who couldn’t comprehend how younger people, such as Musk’s trans daughter, who had been shielded from their vitriol and exposed to queer people who were sharing their joyful journeys had inspired them to do the same. 

TikTok was instrumental in educating young people about concepts around sexuality, gender, and relationships that had been deliberately kept from them. 

The panic over kids “suddenly being queer” was used to justify spiteful legislation that incorrectly accused trans people and drag queens of grooming kids (ironically 

supported by actual rapists, diddlers, and pedophiles

). A flurry of bathroom bans, transvestigations, and 

rules that banned queer kids from playing on sports teams that matched their gender were passed

And finally, TikTok was coerced into becoming a lap dog of the US government.

Another aspect of the TikTok ban that can’t be overlooked is its impact on employment. As work continues to become more precarious in the gig economy, many people have taken up content creation as their primary or supplementary income. 

, especially sex workers, with random demonetization and

, TikTok has a relatively robust payout structure. 

The looming ban on TikTok poses a potentially devastating financial blow, especially to sex educators and adult content creators who are at higher risk of precariousness due to laws restricting nudity and criminalizing solicitation. 

Many tearful videos came out on the eve of the shutdown from panicked creators whose small businesses were at risk of going under.

Of course, the same politicians who are intent on squeezing the working class and consolidating wealth for the billionaire class give no legitimate consideration, much less solutions to the massive disruption their careless policies have. 

While they talk nonstop about restoring prosperity to the American people, it’s undeniable that their stupidity is outmatched only by their inability to ameliorate their constituents’ material conditions. 

As of this writing, Donald Trump “saved” TikTok by extending the deadline for ByteDance to sell the American portion of the app. This move has effectively cucked the platform, and there have already been noticeable changes to the algorithm.

A new wave of neocons have emerged, emboldened to harass queer people without fear of persecution. 

Elon Musk threw up a Nazi salute three times during the inauguration, and mainstream media defended him by saying he was autistic and excited

Queer people (along with all marginalized communities who are also being thrown under the bus) are rightfully concerned about their future. Without access to platforms where they can spread their joy and ban together, the future seems even more uncertain. 

But it’s important to remember amidst all of this that even if we’re being digitally separated and erased, we do exist in physical space, and our stories will continue to flourish. 

The saga of TikTok is, above all else, a story of Americans being sensitized to the plights of victims of imperialism, as well as personal stories of empowerment and liberation. These platforms are ultimately replaceable tools, so long as we defend our will to change for the better. 