A new report by Human Rights Watch documents the continued exploitation of webcam models abroad, many of whom operate on popular sites like Chaturbate and are streamed by millions around the world — but aren't protected by either the platforms' Terms of Service or the larger labor movement.
The organization spoke to 55 studio-based webcammers, Colombian authorities, U. State Department officials, and anti-trafficking experts. Even more recounted having never read or signed the Terms of Service of the platforms their content appeared on, with their accounts being made and overseen by the studios — guidelines that could offer them insight into further wage theft and sexual exploitation.
For example, few of the webcam platforms offer protections for models to take breaks during live cam shifts. Studios reportedly pressured models into staying online for extended periods of time, using the threat of docked pay and decreased traffic. Colombia has decriminalized sex work — a globally supported policy position among sex worker, labor, and human rights activists — and all of the models interviewed had consented to their work, yet adult content platforms, especially those in the webcam industry, continue to slip through the regulatory cracks and threaten the safety of models.
Labor violations among webcam studio operators overseeing adult content models are well documented. While streaming platforms take anywhere from 50 to 65 percent of a model's earnings already, Human Rights Watch explains, studios like those documented in Colombia retain as much as 70 percent of what is paid out by the platform, reducing model earnings to meager numbers.
In addition, many studios retain ownership of models' accounts, forcing them to stay with the studio or risk losing their followings and living wages. The organization reports that this is also a way for studios to circumvent verification systems that protect minors from entering the platform.
