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Document Type

Article

Language

English (en)

Publication Date

2025

Publication Title

Harvard Journal of Law and Technology (Forthcoming)

Abstract

Lawmakers and technology companies are regulating online sexuality in the name of feminism. Whereas libertarian ideals dominated early debates about internet governance, “safety” became a rallying cry to regulate online activity in the age of Big Tech. As these regulatory paradigms now clash once again, one trend remains: legislators across the political spectrum and companies around the world are devising interventions that purportedly keep people—and especially women—safe from the risks of online sexuality. Through law and technology, they are targeting everything from privacy invasions to unwanted messages to sexual deepfakes. We call this regulatory and ideological trend Big Tech feminism.

This Article interrogates the feminist strands animating Big Tech feminism. Overall, regulators are favoring prudish and punitive measures to promote sexual safety, repurposing concerns about sex harms to control and penalize harmless sexual activity. Big Tech feminism is hardly novel in this regard. Rather, it is a contemporary example of how some feminists align with power elites to develop systems of sex regulation at the expense of sexual autonomy.

This Article offers an alternative regulatory agenda grounded in queer and critical feminist theory. It decenters punishment of wrongdoers and focuses on the social determinants of safety. Safety is best served by structuring sexual life more fairly and empowering everyone to shape the norms and terms of online sexuality. The interventions advanced here would allow people to navigate sexual risks and pleasures more autonomously and, thus, more safely. In this tumultuous moment for governing online activity, we reimagine safety to renew the emancipatory potential of a feminist agenda.

Keywords

Law and Sexuality, Feminist Legal Theory, Technology and Sexuality

Publication Citation

Brenda Dvoskin & Thomas Kadri, Safe Sex in the Age of Big Tech Feminism, 39 Harv. J.L. & Tech. __ (2025)

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