🚨 The money and the law moved at the same time this week.
One state floated a 50 percent tax on adult content. A court told a cam platform it owes performers years of withheld pay. And the age checks keep spreading. Here's what you need to know...
1. North Carolina wants to tax adult content at 50 percent.
Senate Bill 1007 would put a 50 percent tax on what it vaguely calls prurient material, which means anything an official decides is obscene or harmful to minors. The same bill lets one state official choose whether the tax hits your sale price or your total receipts. The money would fund trafficking and abuse programs, not the industry it taxes. Half your sales is not a fee. It is a wall. If you sell to anyone in North Carolina, this one is personal.
2. A court ruled cam performers are owed years of withheld pay.
A federal judge in New Jersey handed down the first webcam misclassification ruling in US history, and it cut both ways. Federal law calls Streamate performers contractors. New Jersey law calls them employees. The catch is that Streamate has kept 65 percent of the tips performers earned in free chat since 2019, and under the state ruling that money belongs to the workers. The damages phase is next, and every cam platform just got put on notice.
3. India's top court just told police to back off consenting adult sex workers.
India's Supreme Court ruled that police cannot arrest or take criminal action against an adult doing sex work by choice. It said a worker who reports a crime must be treated as a complainant, not a suspect, and that raids should target trafficking and coercion instead of consensual work. India has no full statute on this yet, so the court said its directions stand until lawmakers write one. When a top court ties protection to consent instead of punishment, advocates everywhere get a stronger case to point to.
4. Iowa made ID checks for adult sites the law.
Governor Kim Reynolds signed Iowa's age verification bill on June 1, and it takes effect July 1. Any site that is at least one third adult content has to confirm every visitor is 18 using a government ID or financial documents. Break it and the fines stack fast, up to 10,000 dollars a day for providers. Iowa is now one of more than 25 states doing this, all riding the Texas law the Supreme Court blessed last year. Expect more geoblocking and more access friction.
5. Mexico's Supreme Court could write one national rule for sex worker rights.
Mexico's highest court agreed to review a case out of Puebla that could set national standards for sex worker rights and how local police treat the community. Right now the rules change city by city, with Mexico City having dropped criminal penalties back in 2019. A ruling would apply nationwide and could lock in protections or open the door to more police pressure, depending on the outcome. If you work in Mexico or book clients there, this is one to watch.
Here is my real question for you. If your top earning state passed a 50 percent tax tomorrow, would you change where and how you sell, or hold your ground? Tell me your plan B. 👇