EFF Counters 'Outlandish' Reports on Its Activities to Hurt Sohn
The Electronic Frontier Foundation tried to “set the record straight” Tuesday about FCC nominee Gigi Sohn’s role as a board member in the group’s decisions, after what it called “outlandish headlines” aimed at twisting “EFF's long-held positions and commitments into…
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dog whistles against” the embattled nominee (see 2301300025). Those reports centered on the group’s opposition to the 2018 Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act and Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (see 1806290044) and its 2020 award to OnlyFans-affiliated sex worker Danielle Blunt, known professionally as Mistress Blunt. EFF acknowledged Blunt is “a professional dominatrix” and “a leader in the technology policy space and advocate for sex workers” but said “no one is more aware of the way that the power imbalances of the real world permeate online, and is more poised to act, than she is.” The group said its “opposition to FOSTA-SESTA was and remains based on the facts: It will not stop sex trafficking and will instead make stopping it harder. At the same time, the law puts a wide range of online expression at risk and we are always, unapologetically, against the criminalization and chilling of legal speech.” The “flurry of hyperbole and personal attacks should not be allowed to deflect attention from” Sohn being “one of the most qualified people possible for the role of FCC commissioner,” EFF said: “She has been a fair and balanced advocate for public interest for her entire career,” which “is why we were happy to add her to our board -- a role from which she will step down if she is appointed -- and why we would be thrilled to see her confirmed to the FCC.”