The Digital Closet

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In The Digital Closet, Alexander Monea provocatively argues that the internet has become predominantly straight by suppressing LGBTQIA+ content, forcing it into narrow channels and rendering it invisible through opaque algorithms and content moderation. He discusses how the U.S. thirty-year “war on porn” has led to the over-regulation of sexual content, resulting in the censorship of non-pornographic material, including sex education and LGBTQ+ activism. Monea examines the cultural, technological, and political factors that have marginalized LGBTQ+ content, highlighting the anti-porn activism of the alt-right, Christian conservatives, and anti-porn feminists who have united in this censorship effort. He investigates the roles of coders and moderators who reinforce heteronormativity and the collateral damage caused by the war on porn, which includes the censorship of community resources, art, and literature that engage with sexuality. Monea also critiques the internet architectures that contribute to this heteronormalization, such as Google Safe Search and the algorithms of porn platforms. He reveals that mainstream porn is often boring, trapped in a heteronormative filter bubble, and suggests that everyone suffers from this enforced heteronormativity. Monea advocates for queering straightness and introducing feminism to combat the underlying misogyny.