Will the SAFE SEX Workers Study Act Repeal SESTA/FOSTA?
Sex workers demonstrate against discrimination in London, United Kingdom, on March 8, 2019. © Wiktor Szymanowicz/Barcroft/Getty
Rep. Ro Khanna (D–Calif.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D–Mass.) have reintroduced the SAFE SEX Workers Study Act, an important legislative effort that seeks to thoroughly examine the effects of the controversial FOSTA law.
FOSTA, formally known as the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act, was enacted in 2018 and aimed to significantly target and combat online content that promotes sex work. By doing so, it also weakened Section 230 of federal communications law, which is often referred to as the "internet's First Amendment," and criminalized the hosting of online advertisements that facilitate prostitution.
Since the passage of FOSTA more than six years ago, various entities—including sex worker rights groups, academic researchers, and the Government Accountability Office—have raised substantial questions regarding its overall efficacy and intended outcomes.
Concurrently, sex workers alongside civil liberties organizations, such as the Woodhull Freedom Foundation and Human Rights Watch, have expressed strong concerns that FOSTA has led to increased censorship and has had a chilling effect on free speech in the online realm.
The SAFE SEX Workers Study Act is meant to be a first step toward FOSTA's ultimate repeal.
"What [FOSTA] did was draconian," Khanna said. "It did not just go after bad actors; it went after sex workers' livelihood and safety."
Khanna stated that he initially aimed to introduce a repeal bill, but he expressed concern that it might not successfully pass through Congress. Therefore, he opted instead to introduce a different bill focused on gathering comprehensive data regarding the impact on sex workers. His intention with this approach is to obtain concrete and compelling data that could potentially persuade other members of Congress to lend their support to the idea of repeal.
"Just like in the war against drugs, that we were able to push back—particularly on marijuana convictions—based on many studies and data, the hope here is that once we have this data, it will convince people that FOSTA/SESTA was an overreach and then we will have a consensus to repeal it," Khanna told Reason in 2019.
Elizabeth Warren
Warren introduced a companion bill in the Senate in early 2020, and both the Khanna and Warren versions were reintroduced in 2022. Khanna's first attempt got 19 co-sponsors, and his second attempt got 13 co-sponsors. But in both houses in which it was introduced previously, the SAFE SEX Workers Study Act failed to go anywhere.
Now it's back, introduced in both the House and the Senate on December 17 (which sex workers commemorate as the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers). The Senate version already has three co-sponsors: Sens. Ron Wyden (D–Ore.), Cory Booker (D–N.J.), and Bernie Sanders (I–Vt.). The House version already has seven co-sponsors.
Once again, the bill directs the Department of Health and Human Services to study the impact of FOSTA on sex worker interactions with law enforcement, mental health, working conditions, and more, as well as the way the law curbed access to important tech resources, including social media and banking tools.
It also directs the Department of Justice to investigate how FOSTA impacted human trafficking investigations and prosecutions.
"Woodhull urges members of Congress to take the opportunity presented by the SAFE SEX Workers Study Act to investigate not only the consequences of SESTA/FOSTA on the health and safety of sex workers and survivors of trafficking but also free speech more broadly," said Woodhull President and CEO Ricci Joy Levy.
Sex workers and academics have already been compiling data on the effects of FOSTA. But having government agencies compile their own data might go a longer way toward convincing lawmakers of FOSTA's negative impacts.
Sadly, the bill seems mostly symbolic this time around. Even if it could get enough votes (and that seems like a long shot in itself), there's such a short time left in the 118th Congress. And if it's to go anywhere next year, Khanna and Warren would have to reintroduce the bill for the 2025–26 congressional term.
With former President Donald Trump—who signed FOSTA into law—soon to take office again and Republicans soon to control both houses of Congress, the chance of the SAFE SEX Workers Study Act going anywhere then seems even less likely.
Covering this measure, though likely doomed, is worthwhile as Khanna and Warren's persistence and initial co-sponsorship are encouraging. It shows some Congress members are skeptical of FOSTA and willing to voice their doubts.
While this small sign of optimism may not lead to broader caution regarding Section 230 amendments or anti-trafficking bills, it reflects the effectiveness of grassroots actions against FOSTA and online censorship of sex workers. The efforts of activists, particularly from sex worker and LGBTQ groups, have raised significant awareness about FOSTA's harms.
