Gay cruise organiser Atlantis had to tighten its policy after insistence from the shipping companies, BuzzFeed writes. The ships do not belong to the cruise organiser itself, but to shipping companies that prefer not to be associated with the lavish parties and sexual freedom on board. After all, retired straight couples must also be accommodated on the same balconies.
Atlantis therefore had to tighten the rules on the cruises. From now on it is forbidden to make sexually explicit footage on the ship. The CEO of Atlantis indicates that sex videos were posted online with the logos of the shipping companies, such as Royal Caribbean. Afraid that their image would be tainted by this, they demanded that Atlantis change its policy around the movies.
The guests of the most recent gay cruise that visits Aruba, Curaçao and Haiti, among others, received a warning: “Please do not post anything explicitly sexual on social media in a public forum or other online space. Any guest who posts or publishes an explicit and publicly visible photo or video will be asked to leave the ship with no refund.” To check whether guests are complying with these rules, Atlantis has assembled a "team of volunteers" to monitor the internet.
However, the policy does not yet appear to be producing the desired result. If you simply type #Atlantiscruise on Twitter, you will immediately see the videos that the cruise companies are afraid of.
The CEO of content website JustForFans, Dominic Ford, regrets that sex workers are being stigmatized in this way, he tells BuzzFeed. "But we need to find ways of working with our friends and allies to make sure everyone’s safe spaces are protected, not just ours." If the creators of sex videos pay attention to how they make the videos, they shouldn't cause problems, says Ford.
[Image: @DakotaStoneAlt on Twitter]