What is art? What is pornography? A contested distinction that was once made by adult stores, galleries, and the classification board, now falls to digital platforms and their automated content moderation algorithms. Censorship debates date back centuries, and our public discussions, legislation, and tech policies are still riddled with moralistic ideology about what is ‘good’, what is ‘bad’ and what the general public should be allowed to see.

The EXHIBIT event is the first of a four-part event series as part of a community-based research project to Rebalance the Internet Economy conducted by Digital Rights Watch. The EXHIBIT event is centered on the experiences of sex workers, artists and content creators.

The internet was heralded as a place where freedom of expression would thrive, and yet marginalised and minoritised voices continue to be silenced online: sex workers are regularly de-platformed, Black, Brown and Indigenous peoples are more heavily policed, LGBTQ+ content creators are ‘shadow banned’, and nudity policies disproportionately impact some over others. How are these policies communicated? Can individuals have a say when their livelihoods depend on it?

The rise in hate speech, misinformation, online abuse, and bullying calls for meaningful policy and regulation but it is essential we get the balance right. All over the world we are seeing an increasing trend toward heavy-handed removal of content based on a moral standing, not an evidence-based or harm reduction one. Australia’s Online Safety Bill is a prime example of when the regulatory focus is too heavily invested in content over context. It's time we had a frank conversation about what needs to change to better serve individuals.

As it stands we have policy and regulation that protects morals rather than people—but we need it to be the other way around in order for our communities to thrive online. Join us to hear from our panelists and share your (yes, your!) perspective!

Read about our line up of speakers on our website here.

Attendance is *free* but with a suggested donation of $10 for waged attendees. Donations to Digital Rights Watch help us to continue to do our work. Click here to donate.