Porn Companies Join The Fight For Net Neutrality

Porn companies like Pornhub, xHamster, Kink, Redtube, and ManyVids have joined the fight for net neutrality. The companies say they will be taking part in the July 12 "Day of Action" protests -- which will be occurring both online and off -- to help communicate the importance of keeping the existing net neutrality rules intact. Numerous porn companies told Motherboard this week that Ajit Pai's plans to dismantle popular net neutrality protections will not only have a disastrous impact on their ability to do business, but free speech in general.

"Without [net neutrality], the cable and wireless companies that control internet access will have unfair power to pick winners and losers in the market," Corey Price, vice president of Pornhub, recently told Motherboard

Most people understand that net neutrality is designed to ensure that the internet remains open, and that ISPs can't pick and choose winners depending on how much they're willing to pay entrenched duopolists. But Alex Hawkins, a spokesperson for xHamster, also tells Motherboard that keeping the internet open is also a matter of free speech.

"As an international company, we see every day how restrictive governments use regulatory tools, like traffic throttling, to limit access to not only porn but political speech," Hawkins told me. "What people sometimes miss, especially in the United States and Western Europe, is that sexual speech is political speech. The same governments that severely restrict adult content are also the ones that limit sexual expression, LGBTQ rights, women's rights and access to different ideas."

"Even in the US," he added, "the same politicians who fight against adult content are the ones advocating for a limited, heteronormative version of sexuality. We make them nervous."

The EFF has also argued that net neutrality is, at its core, a free speech issue as well.

The FCC is fielding public comment on its plan to kill net neutrality until August 18.