Regulating and representing camming Strict limits on acceptable content on webcam sex platforms

This article analyses the discursive construction of the limits of webcamming in terms of service agreements by BongaCams, LiveJasmin and Chaturbate, three of the world’s most popular webcam sex platforms. Through this analysis, the moderation practices in the webcamming industry are examined. Regulation of sexual platforms and its implications for representations of online sex work are still largely unclear. Through a critical discourse analysis of seven webcam platform terms of service documents, this article scrutinises the norms for camming as dictated by industry leading platforms. This analysis shows that these platforms, for legal and financial reasons, reject the idea of camming as sexually explicit or as (sex) work. Such a construction of camming limits sexual expression online, obstructs online sex workers’ labour rights and perpetuates sex work stigma. This article sheds light on how digital platforms can establish and maintain norms which regulate users’ online expressions, working conditions and representations.