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TL;DR: Amazon is using its early Prime Day hub to showcase its new Alexa+ ecosystem, but all first-party Echo devices are currently listed at full retail price. Hold off on buying until June 23 or check out the live sales on Sonos and Bose gear instead.

It's only June 8, but Amazon is pushing its upcoming Prime Day sale hard (as it does every year, though it feels like the sale starts earlier and earlier each time). The company's using flashy blue banners to make it look like the event's already underway, but if you look at the actual price tags, you'll see all of the Echo devices are still listed at their original list price. (Some things on the site are on sale, just not these.)

SEE ALSO: Prime Day is right around the corner: Here are 20+ early deals to start shopping now

Instead of offering discounts, Amazon is using this early window to lure customers to the site and get some eyes on its new generative AI assistant, Alexa+. While access is included for free with Prime, non-subscribers will eventually have to cough up $19.99 a month for the standard plan.

To help you plan out your shopping cart ahead of time, here's a quick breakdown of what these full-price devices are going for right now versus how low we expect them to drop when the sale officially kicks off:

Smart displays to watch

• Amazon Echo Show 11: The Amazon Echo Show 11 is Amazon's newest Echo Show model, so we're not expecting a huge discount on this one, but it was listed for $169.99 on May 1, so if you're looking for a new smart display, there's still hope. Right now, it's still listed at its full $219.99 retail price.

• Amazon Echo Hub: Right now, the Amazon Echo Hub will run you $179.99. But, if you're patient, we expect it to drop $60 by the time the sale starts. It hit $119.99 during Amazon's October Prime Day sale last year, so $60 is our minimum discount expectation.

Smart speakers and bedside clocks

• Amazon Echo Dot Max: The Amazon Echo Dot Max is still sitting at its full retail price of $99.99, but like the Amazon Echo Show 11, it had a substantial price drop on May 1. We expect to see this device get down to $74.99 during the sale to match that previous all-time low.

• Amazon Echo Spot: The Amazon Echo Spot is full price at $79.99 right now, so we advise waiting. We've seen earlier iterations of this clock hit $44.99 during past savings events, which is a much fairer price for a bedside display.

• Amazon Echo Pop Kids: The cartoon-themed editions of the Amazon Echo Pop Kids are holding firm at $49.99 right now. These models usually drop to half off during actual site-wide sales, so hold out for the $24.99 mark.

What you can buy on sale today

If you just can't wait until June 23 to buy a smart speaker, there are a few Alexa-enabled devices on sale right now, including:

• Sonos Roam 2 — $134 $179 (save $45)

• Sonos Era 100 — $189 $219 (save $30)

• JBL Authentics 200 — $199.95 $379.95 (save $180)

• Bose Portable Smart Speaker — $299 $399 (save $100)

• Sonos Era 300 — $379 $479 (save $100)

The main takeaway here is to not let early promotional banners rush you into paying full retail price for an Echo speaker. Bookmark your favorites, build your cart, and wait for the real first-party price cuts to drop later this month.

What would you do if you find out your best friend of 20 years was an international assassin?

That's the dilemma at the heart of Ride or Die, an upcoming action comedy series starring and executive produced by Octavia Spencer and Hannah Waddingham. The Oscar winner and Emmy winner join forces as longtime besties Debbie Claybourne (Spencer) and Judith Burton (Waddingham).

After two decades of friendship, Debbie thinks she knows everything there is to know about Judith. But as it turns out, Judith has been living a double life. She's actually an international assassin who takes down bad guys for money. Now, though, a mysterious figure from her past has resurfaced, putting her in more danger than usual. And since Debbie is Judith's ride or die, that means she's in the crosshairs too.

The first trailer for Ride or Die teases what follows in this (literally) explosive tale of friends on the run. Waddingham gets to go full action hero mode, shooting enemies and kicking butt in hand-to-hand combat. While Debbie is newer to this world of international intrigue, she gets in on the action too. She takes the wheel during a serious car chase, takes down a man using a fire extinguisher, and even jumps off a moving train. Is there nothing these BFFs won't do for one another?

Ride or Die also stars Ed Skrein, Calam Lynch, Savannah Steyn, Jamie Parker, Jacky Ido, Sylvia Hoeks, and Bill Nighy.

All eight episodes of Ride or Die premiere July 15 on Prime Video.

It's almost time to try out the next evolution of Apple's iOS.

Apple is all set to finally pull the veil off of iOS 27 on Monday, after months of anticipation. It's expected to include a brand new AI-powered enhancement for Siri, as well as plenty of other little quality-of-life improvements across the iPhone experience. The announcement will almost certainly happen during Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference keynote at 1 p.m. ET, and we have a live blog you can follow if you want to keep track of the latest news.

WWDC keynote day almost always heralds the release of the first new iOS beta. Here's when you can expect it to be available and how to get in on the action.

SEE ALSO: Apple WWDC 2026 keynote livestream: Watch live today Apple iOS 27 beta: Release time and how to download

If previous years are any indication (and they usually are with Apple, a company that likes to keep a routine), you can expect the first developer beta for iOS 27 to be available sometime Monday afternoon, following the WWDC keynote. There will probably be a second public beta available later this summer, and that distinction matters with regards to how to experience these betas.

For the beta that's likely to release on Monday, you'll need to register for developer betas. That probably sounds more daunting than it actually is; Apple doesn't charge any money for access to developer betas or anything like that. All you have to do is register on Apple's developer website with your Apple account and device. Once you're all registered and set to go, here is a quick set of instructions for how to get the beta on your iPhone:

1. Restart your iPhone

2. Open Settings

3. Go to General, then Software Update

4. Tap Beta Updates

If you correctly registered for developer betas and the beta itself is available, you'll see it there for download. Just remember that this is an unfinished beta intended nominally for developers, and thus installing it on your phone might carry some risk. It's best to create a backup ahead of time.

When can I get the iOS 27 public beta?

We don't know the exact date, but using last year as a guide, you should be able to download and try the iOS 27 public beta sometime in July.

For reference, the first public beta of iOS 26, which introduced Liquid Glass to the iPhone, was released on Thursday, July 24, 2025.

OpenEvidence, a fast-growing start-up, is using artificial intelligence to help doctors find answers to clinical questions for diagnosis and treatment.

The Iran war is pushing countries to prioritize domestic energy in order to protect themselves from volatile oil and natural gas markets.

TL;DR: Amazon has Magic: The Gathering's Avatar The Last Airbender Jumpstart Booster Box on sale for $85.43, with $9.03 taken off its $94.46 list price. As a  24-pack display box, this means you’ll be paying around $3.56 per Jumpstart Booster before tax.

Opens in a new window Credit: Magic: The Gathering Magic: The Gathering Avatar The Last Airbender Jumpstart Booster Box $85.43 at Amazon
$94.96 Save $9.53 Get Deal

Avatar: The Last Airbender expansion is still one of the most fun crossovers with the Magic: The Gathering trading card game in recent memory, and you can now grab two dozen packs for the equivalent of just over $3.50 each. 

As of June 8, Magic: The Gathering's Avatar The Last Airbender Jumpstart Booster Box is on sale at Amazon for $85.43. That's 10% off its usual $94.46 price, saving you $9.03 on a sealed display shipped and sold by Amazon. 

This even undercuts other sellers on the site with the next-lowest pricing listed for $94.33. At $85.43, this 24-pack box equates to you paying only $3.56 per pack. 

If you want to save as much money as possible, however, TCGplayer goes even lower — with listings as low as $82.65. That’s actually $1.01 below its market price of $83.66. 

Meet The Mashable 101: Our list of the content creators shaping the internet today

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In each of the box’s 24 packs are 20 Avatar-themed Magic cards. For those newer to Magic: The Gathering, the whole point of Jumpstart is speed: take two boosters, shuffle them together, and you have a playable deck with all the Lands already included. 

The Avatar expansion even has 46 themes altogether, letting you mix scenes, characters, and elemental ideas from the show into different quick-play combos. The boosters are compatible with other Jumpstart packs as well, so you can keep the mash-ups going once you have worked through the Avatar box.

For more boxes of MTG packs, you can preorder the 30-pack Marvel Super Heroes Play Booster Box for under $140. What’s more, the anticipated Magic: The Gathering's Reality Fracture Play Booster Box is available to preorder for $154.99 — still on sale at Amazon, too. 

If you’re also a Pokémon TCG fan, although currently not available on Amazon, the newly announced Pitch Black expansion — Booster Packs, ETBs, Display Boxes, and Booster Bundles — is available to preorder at TCGplayer.

Want to learn more about getting the best out of your tech? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories and Deals newsletters today.

TL;DR: Amazon has the Pokémon TCG Mega Evolution — Ascended Heroes Mega Feraligatr ex Box on sale for $69.79, with a 15% slice off its base $81.89 price. With that $12.10 saving included, you’ll be getting a sealed box with four valuable Ascended Heroes Booster Packs, one foil Mega Feraligatr ex promo card, and one oversize lenticular card.

Opens in a new window Credit: The Pokémon Company Pokémon TCG Ascended Heroes Mega Feraligatr ex Box $69.79 at Amazon
$81.89 Save $12.10   Get Deal

Ascended Heroes is still one of the most pricey expansions in the Pokémon TCG right now, but you can get a lower cost per pack by taking advantage of grabbing one of the coveted ex Boxes on sale right now. 

As of June 8, Amazon has cut the Pokémon TCG’s Ascended Heroes Mega Feraligatr ex Box to $69.79 — $12.10 down from its current $81.89 price. This 15% discount, with the listing shipped and sold by Collectors Expedition, also comes with free delivery estimated for June 12-15 at the time of writing, while the fastest delivery option is currently shown for June 9. 

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At $69.79, the box works out to about $17.45 per Ascended Heroes Booster Pack before you even factor in the playable foil promo card or oversize lenticular card. 

Compared to buying single Ascended Heroes Booster Packs, currently as low as $18.94 on Amazon, you’re saving at least $1.49 per pack — saving you $5.96 in total for all four, with the Feraligatr promo trading cards as essentially a free bonus. 

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TCGplayer is still cheaper overall if you’re comfortable buying from marketplace sellers. Its lowest unopened listing is $20.01 plus $29.99 shipping, while higher-feedback sellers are closer to $54 with shipping included — all fitting well within the range of the box’s $53.74 market price. 

Scarce since launch, Ascended Heroes still packs some amazingly valuable chase cards you can pull (or buy individually on TCGplayer) — including SIR Mega Gengar ex, SIR Pikachu ex, and SIR Mega Dragonite ex. 

If you’re also hunting cards from the newest expansion, you can buy the Pokémon TCG’s Chaos Rising Elite Trainer Box for $91 in its newest sale.  For an even lower cost per pack, you can grab the 36-pack Chaos Rising Booster Display Box for under $265 — equal to around $7.35 per pack.

Although currently not available on Amazon, the Pokémon TCG’s newly announced Pitch Black expansion — Booster Packs, ETBs, Display Boxes, and Booster Bundles — is available to preorder at TCGplayer.

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The 2026 World Cup is drawing closer, and scams are on the rise.

With people scrambling to buy tickets, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center has issued a public service announcement about the number of fake websites out there. The short version? There are a lot. And they're after your data and money.

"Threat actors create a deceptive version of a legitimate website (www.fifa.com) with the goal of tricking users into believing they're interacting with an official brand," the FBI release states. "The FBI has identified actors engaging in this activity to collect personal information, sell fake World Cup tickets and hospitality products, and to possibly facilitate other malicious activity. If a threat actor gains access to a victim's PII, they can create new accounts in a victim's name and ultimately defraud the victim."

SEE ALSO: How to watch the 2026 FIFA World Cup online for free

Here's a list of scam websites the FBI has identified so far:

• www.fifa[.]cab

• www.fifa[.]pink

• www.fifa[.]blue

• www.fifa[.]pub

• FIFA[.]city

• Fifa[.]bio

• fifa[.]beer

• fifa[.]click

• fifa[.]cam

• fifa[.]ceo

• fifa[.]help

• filfa[.]org

• fifa-online[.]com

• https://fifa-2026[.]xyz

• jobs-fifa[.]com

• fifa-hr[.]com

• fifa-careerhub[.]com

• fifaworldcup-careers[.]com

• fifa-hiring[.]com

• fifahiring[.]com

• fifa-ticket[.]live

• fifastore.us[.]com

• fifaworldcup26[.]sale

• fifaworldcup26.xcover-staging[.]com

• worldcup2026-tickets.com[.]mx

• worldcup26ticket[.]com

• 2026fifaworldcuptickets[.]online

• fwc2026[.]net

• fwc2026.web[.]app

• www.fifa2026p[.]com

• fifa2026fworldcup[.]com

• wvvw-fifa[.]com

• ww-fifa[.]com

• fifa-com[.]com

• www.fifa-com[.]services

• quiniela-fifa-2026.pages[.]dev

How to safely buy World Cup tickets

There's only one way to do it: through FIFA's official website. The URL is www.fifa.com, and you need to watch out for typos — often scam sites will target speedy typers who've swapped out a character by mistake.

The FIFA site has a hub for ticket sales, which currently has three options: last-minute sales, marketplace (this allows ticket resales), and hospitality packages. Users must sign in to book.

If you'd rather watch the World Cup games at home for free, though, then we've got you covered.

June is here, and Apple fans know what that means: It's time for the annual Worldwide Developers Conference, better known as WWDC.

While most of the event is catered to developers, the opening keynote address is traditionally way more consumer-oriented than most of Apple's competitors' developer events. Apple usually saves its big software announcements for WWDC (and also announces some of its most powerful desktop computers, like the Mac Studio, during the event).

So, if you want to watch Tim Cook's final WWDC as Apple CEO — and the potential debut of iOS 27, an all-new Siri, and potentially some new Mac devices — here's how to watch the keynote live.

Watch Apple WWDC 2026 live

WWDC 2026 takes place from June 8 to June 12. The big keynote, however, opens up the show on Monday at 10 a.m. PT (or 1 p.m. ET).

SEE ALSO: Apple WWDC 2026 keynote event: Live updates on iOS 27 and Siri

Apple fans will be able to watch the keynote live at Apple.com, on Apple's YouTube channel, and the Apple TV app. You can also join Mashable at the CNET WWDC livestream watch party, where tech editors from Mashable, CNET, and PCMag will break down the biggest announcements after the event wraps.

This will be Tim Cook's final WWDC as CEO

Held in Cupertino, WWDC is shaping up to be even bigger than usual. Apple is expected to announce details of the next operating systems for its entire hardware lineup, which should include iOS 27, macOS 27, iPadOS 27, watchOS 27, tvOS 27, and visionOS 27.

Apple hasn't provided any information about what to expect. However, the long-awaited relaunch of Siri as a full-fledged AI assistant has been rumored to make its debut at this year's WWDC.

Also, beyond Apple's products, this is expected to be Apple CEO Tim Cook's very last keynote as head of the company. Apple's current Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering John Ternus will become Apple CEO just in time for its big iPhone event in September.

SEE ALSO: 3 burning questions we still have before WWDC 2026

SAVE $101: As of June 8, the Garmin vívoactive 5 is on sale for $198.99 at Amazon. That's a 34% discount on the list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Garmin Garmin vívoactive 5 $198.99 at Amazon
$299.99 Save $101   Get Deal

Looking for a new fitness tracker to assist your workout and lifestyle goals? Look no further than the Garmin vívoactive 5. This is an ideal offering from Garmin that gives you both advanced fitness tracking stats and health, wellness, and lifestyle features. And it looks good, too.

As of June 8, this smartwatch is currently on sale for $101 off the list price, bringing it down to $198.99. This deal is for the ivory colored watch, but you can browse other colors, too (although currently this is the only option on sale).

This Garmin has a bright and colorful AMOLED display that offers up to 11 days of battery life in smartwatch mode (or up to 5 days with the display always on). It is controlled both by a touchscreen and buttons, which makes use during workouts nice and easy.

With this watch, you'll get access to advanced Garmin features like Body Battery (a stat that monitors your energy levels), sleep tracking with a sleep score, personalized sleep coaching, and other metrics, including HRV (heart rate variability) status.

It also includes more than 30 indoor and GPS sports apps, ranging from walking and running to cycling and HIIT. It also includes a wheelchair mode, which tracks pushes instead of steps and provides tailored workouts and activities for wheelchair users, including strength and cardio.

Health monitoring is another big plus, with features like wrist-based heart rate, stress tracking, morning reports, fitness age, and menstrual cycle all included.

Find this Garmin deal at Amazon now.

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SAVE $10.99: As of June 8, the Roku Streaming Stick 4K Plus is on sale for $29 at Amazon. That's a 27% discount on the list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Roku Roku Streaming Stick Plus $29 at Amazon
$39.99 Save $10.99   Get Deal

Streaming devices are a simple and affordable way to make your entertainment setup easier. Whether you have an older TV that doesn't have built-in streaming options, or you travel a lot and don't want to sign in and out of unfamiliar devices, a streaming device can be the way to go.

And as of June 8, one of the most popular models, the Roku Streaming Stick 4K Plus, is on sale at Amazon. Right now, you can save $10.99 on the list price, which is currently down to $29.

The Roku Streaming Stick Plus gives you 4K streaming with HDR support in a compact device that plugs directly into the TV’s HDMI port. Unlike many streaming devices, this one doesn't need a wall outlet to run. It's powered directly through the TV, so there is far less cable clutter to endure.

It comes with a remote that lets you control both the TV and streaming device so you don't need lots of remotes hanging around, either.

And, of course, with this TV stick you'll get access to a huge range of streaming apps (including Netflix, Prime Video and more), and you'll find them all together in one place, on a home screen that is designed for easy navigation.

Get this streaming deal online at Amazon now.

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TL;DR: Amazon has the Pokémon TCG Mega Evolution — Chaos Rising Elite Trainer Box starting at $91 through a third-party seller, down from its $119.99 list price. This saves you $28.99 on the ETB’s lowest Amazon listing yet, while the Elite Trainer Box sold and shipped directly by Amazon is only slightly higher at $92.55 with faster delivery. 

Opens in a new window Credit: The Pokémon Company Pokémon TCG Mega Evolution Chaos Rising Elite Trainer Box $91 at Amazon
$119.99 Save $28.99   Get Deal

Chaos Rising prices have been steadily falling in the Pokémon TCG market since launch, and Amazon’s latest listings have now taken the expansion’s Elite Trainer Box to its lowest price with the retailer yet.

As of June 8, the Pokémon TCG Mega Evolution — Chaos Rising Elite Trainer Box is available at Amazon from $91 via Prime Picks, with free delivery currently listed for June 13-15. With this 24% discount from its $119.99 list price, you'll save $28.99 on the sealed collector box. 

If you’re willing to put up a slightly higher amount for faster shipping, the Chaos Rising ETB is sold and shipped directly by Amazon itself and is priced at $92.55 — with free delivery scheduled for June 14, with its fastest option currently listed for June 12, at the time of writing.

However, you can save more by buying your trading cards outside of Amazon, if you’re willing. TCGplayer has unopened Chaos Rising ETB listings starting from $83.99, which is only 44 cents higher than its market price of $83.51.

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Inside the Pokémon TCG’s Chaos Rising Elite Trainer Box, you’ll get nine titular booster packs, one full-art foil promo card featuring Fennekin, 65 card sleeves, 40 Energy cards, a player’s guide, six damage-counter dice, one competition-legal coin-flip die, one plastic coin, a collector’s box with six dividers, and a Pokémon TCG Live code card.

Among this expansion, themed around Mega Floette descending Lumiose City into chaos, you’ll have the chance to pull valuable chase cards (also available to buy separately) like Mega Greninja ex, Mega Pyroar ex, and Mega Dragalge ex, and Mega Floette ex itself. 

For even more packs from the expansion, you can also grab the Pokémon TCG’s six-pack Chaos Rising Booster Bundle for under $60. 

To get the lowest cost per pack, though, you can score the 36-pack Chaos Rising Booster Display Box for under $265 — equalling $7.35 per pack. 

Although currently not available on Amazon, the Pokémon TCG’s newly announced Pitch Black expansion — Booster Packs, ETBs, Display Boxes, and Booster Bundles — is available to preorder at TCGplayer.

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For the second time, the company is expected to explain its artificial intelligence plans. Unlike some rivals, it is not reorganizing around the technology.

Every year, Apple hosts the Worldwide Developers Conference to reveal the latest updates to its operating systems (and occasionally drops some hardware surprises, too). And all signs point to a more interesting WWDC than usual.

For starters, WWDC 2026 will be Tim Cook's last big event as CEO, and we're eager to see whether there's a torch-passing moment to CEO-in-waiting John Ternus. We're expecting to learn all about iOS 27, macOS 27, iPadOS 27, and a ton more Apple products. It's also been two years since Apple first promised an AI overhaul of its Siri assistant, and the company may finally debut the new Siri during the opening keynote.

WWDC 2026 will kick off with a live "special event" at Apple Park at 10 a.m. PT on Monday, June 8. You can tune into the livestream with us, and Mashable tech reporters will be providing live updates on every big reveal.

Keep checking back, as we'll be updating this page repeatedly throughout WWDC 2026, which officially runs through Friday, June 12.

Modern smartphones rolled out in 2007, the year that fertility rates began falling. Two studies say that is not a coincidence.

The British Film Institute assembled more than 400 videos in an archive of culturally significant internet moments. See what made the cut.

As governments and tech companies shape the future of online privacy, sex workers around the world are organizing to push back against threats to our freedom of speech and data ownership.

"We know from experience that sex workers are the beta testers for taking away people's digital rights," says Ana Ornelas, digital policy officer at the European Sex Workers' Rights Alliance (ESWA). ESWA represents more than 100 member organizations in 30 countries in Western, Eastern, and Central Europe and Central Asia.

SEE ALSO: Adult creators are still getting debanked — but it doesn't just impact them

Take FOSTA/SESTA, twin laws in the U.S. passed in 2018 to ostensibly stop online sex trafficking, but in actuality, made it harder for sex workers and others who work in adult industries to exist online. Big Tech platforms cracked down on sexual content, resulting in bans and shadowbans that persist today. Multiple studies have found that this makes adult workers less safe.

Today, age-verification laws (that require users to give their identity over to tech companies before accessing adult content) have led to sex workers losing income, all while initial studies suggest that they don't actually work to keep minors off porn sites.

Sex workers, unionized and not, continue to fight against bad tech policy. Ornelas, for instance, recently met with an official working on new EU regulations about artificial intelligence that are "simpler" and "innovation-friendly." Ornelas brought up how the proposal leaves room for tech-facilitated gender-based violence. 

"I'm very worried about the exceptions," says Ornelas, referencing the allowances the package makes for generating non-consensual deepfake sexual content for artistic reasons or when subjects are unidentifiable. "Images can be scraped from someone's Instagram bikini pictures. I think that we should be focusing a lot more on transparency around the big tech companies and what's in their databases. You don't need to be completely nude for this technology to be dangerous."

Five thousand miles away from ESWA's campaign, workers at Sheri's Ranch, a legal brothel in Nevada, are fighting a battle on another digital frontier. In Dec., the brothel workers received a contract from management, which included turning over ownership of their likeness and intellectual property to their workplace. In response, the workers reached out to the Communication Workers of America for support and began the process to form a union.

I worked at Sheri's so that I can chase my dreams, but that shouldn't mean they own those dreams too. - Adalind Gray

"The language was big enough that the Ranch could argue that they own anything that we've ever created," says Adalind Gray, one of the seven workers at Sheri's Ranch who were fired since they began their union campaign. The newly founded United Brothel Workers (UBW) has filed unfair labor practices with the National Labor Relations Board on behalf of Gray and the other workers. 

"I have big dreams with my band. I worked at the Ranch in order to fund the studio costs," says Gray. "That is the reason why I do what I do. I think there would also be potential for them to argue they own my online sex work as well, the content I make for OnlyFans."

The use of workers' digital likeness for profit or AI training sets a dangerous precedent for workers in any industry. "Anybody that has cultivated an online following, or has a podcast, substack, any independent work that they care about at all, should be worried that their employer wants to own a piece of all of anything that they do in perpetuity," says Scott Goodstein, a spokesperson for the UBW. "These types of contracts need to be stopped immediately."

"I worked at Sheri's so that I can chase my dreams, but that shouldn't mean they own those dreams too," says Gray.
"No employer is entitled to a slice of my entire community that I spent years building solely because I work there."

The fight against age verification

In the UK, Australia, and the United States, sex workers are leading the fight against age-verification legislation, too. According to the Age Verification Providers Association, nearly 30 countries have introduced age-verification legislation, with at least four more countries on track to introduce legislation in the next one to two years.

"Regulations in one country impact the web for everyone," says Mish Pony, the CEO of Scarlet Alliance, the national peak body representing sex workers across Australia. "When tech companies are creating their terms and conditions, they are developing those based on the regulatory environment that they are based in. So legislation in the U.S. and EU have disproportionate power globally." 

"Our government once issued a fine to X, which doesn't have a physical presence in Australia. How can we actually force them to pay that fine?" Pony asks.

Tech companies are incentivized to play it safe relating to powerful countries' regulations, fueling censorship of not only adult content, but health and education content related to sexuality as well. 

"We've developed a community response every time somebody has a profile taken down," says Kitt Turner, the external communications officer for the UK Sex Workers' Union (SWU). "Everybody rallies around to try and like file reports and try and push to have them reinstated. Sometimes that's effective, sometimes it's not. But we kind of share any knowledge that we can pick up in terms of what makes it more likely for someone to have their profile."

"We've spoken with [Australia's] eSafety commissioner, and we've done a postcard campaign with health professionals who are concerned about the impact of these regulations on people's access to information online," says Pony. "We're just trying to make sure that people are aware of these harmful consequences."

In the United States, Sasha Bee, an organizer for the Sex Worker Action Alliance and Erotic Professionals & Allies United, currently leads campaigns in multiple states to educate and push back against age-verification legislation. Age verification laws are now in effect in over half the states in the United States. "We're fighting against what is fundamentally a free speech violation," says Bee.

Why we must listen to sex workers

Dating back to the earliest days of the internet, sex workers are credited with driving technological adoption and innovation, with contributions including the first online credit card verification systems.

"Adult content creators created the internet," Bee confirms, and research supports this claim. "If you like the fact that you have fast bandwidth, can stream Netflix and Hulu on the same WiFi, thank a sex worker. The demand for their work created the internet that we see today," says Bee.

In the age of Big Tech like X and Meta, however, it's difficult to contest what they do, Turner says.

But that hasn't stopped sex workers from campaigning and collaborating to change the tech landscape. SWU works closely with Decrim Now UK, a coalition fighting for the decriminalization of sex work in the UK. For around the last two years, Decrim Now has been trying to organize a sex worker strike against AdultWork, a platform where they can advertise their work, due to increased costs and reduced profit, says organizer Audrey Caradonna. Decrim Now has also participated in sex work strikes during International Women's Day since 2018.

Adult content creators created the internet. - Sasha Bee

In Dec., Scarlett Alliance published a study on the Impacts of Online Regulation. One of their findings was the negative impact that Australia's Online Safety Act had on youth and marginalized people by restricting access to critical sexual and reproductive health education and drug harm reduction information. Decrim Now UK, ESWA, and industry research firm SWR Data are also currently engaged in collecting similar data to observe the impacts of new tech policies on sex workers. Using their data on sex workers' lived experiences, these organizations are able to inform policymakers how their legislative decisions could impact everybody else on the internet.

"So much of what we're seeing happen to activists and marginalized people in countries like the United States and Germany are taken straight out of the playbook of how sex workers have been treated for the past years," says Ornelas. "We've seen that come true with digital rights activists here in Germany who were put on a no-fly list to the U.S. It's exactly how sex workers have been treated — they've been denied entry in the U.S. based on the fact that they are sex workers or performers. Border control has the data, and suddenly they find themselves taken into a private room to explain themselves."

With their digital privacy on the line, sex workers have strategies on how to mitigate these risks and leverage the community to protect each other, Ornelas says. Amongst other resources, ESWA offers recommendations for social media platform accountability and will soon publish the results of a survey on sex work and deepfake technologies. Mashable also has a breakdown of top digital security tips from sex workers.

Civilians, or non-sex workers, should learn from the community how to protect themselves online, Ornelas says. "Because the way things are headed, it's gonna come in handy."

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