Sweden’s Parliament, the Riksdag, has passed sweeping legislation that will make it a criminal offense to purchase online sexual services, a move that extends the country’s decades-old Nordic model of sex work regulation into the digital realm.

The law, set to take effect July 1, 2025, explicitly targets “remote sexual acts” such as webcam shows and custom erotic content, potentially criminalizing platforms like OnlyFans and cam sites when used by Swedish residents.

The new legislation redefines the criminal act of “purchasing sexual services” to include any sexual acts performed without physical contact, such as those carried out over live-streams, subscription content, or video messaging. While selling sex remains legal, paying for digital sex work will now carry criminal penalties.

In a press statement, the Riksdag said the new law amends the Swedish Criminal Code to close perceived legal loopholes. It includes provisions targeting:

• The purchase of “remote” sexual services.
• Expanded definitions for rape of minors, including victims with diminished capacity due to mental health or authority imbalance.
• Tougher penalties for fraud against elderly or vulnerable individuals.
• Gender identity and expression now included in hate crime penalty enhancement statutes.

Swedish officials say the aim is to address emerging forms of exploitation and abuse in the digital age.

However, human rights groups and sex worker-led organizations have condemned the law as harmful, regressive, and dangerously vague.

“This law criminalizes one of the few safer, lower-barrier forms of sex work: digital erotic labor,” said Yigit Aydin, Senior Program Officer at the European Sex Workers’ Rights Alliance (ESWA). “It will push workers based in Sweden out of a sector where they can work independently, set boundaries, and avoid the risks associated with street-based or in-person work.”

Groups like Red Umbrella Sweden, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch have long opposed Sweden’s “Equality Model” (commonly known as the Nordic Model), which criminalizes sex buyers but not sellers. These critics argue the model fosters economic instability, criminalization by proxy, and dangerous working conditions for sex workers.

Given Sweden’s membership in the EU and the global nature of adult content platforms, advocates warn the law’s effects will reverberate far beyond its borders. International platforms like OnlyFans, Fansly, and Chaturbate may respond by:

• Geo-blocking Swedish users—both creators and subscribers.
• Deplatforming users who appear Swedish or accept Swedish payments.
• Over-censoring erotic content to avoid liability under the law’s ambiguous definitions.

“This law emboldens repressive internet policy and harms digital rights for everyone,” said Aydin. “The enforcement will inevitably rely on expanded digital surveillance—monitoring financial transactions, platform activity, even private messages.”

The law also draws comparisons to the U.S. legislation SESTA/FOSTA, which has been widely criticized for increasing violence against sex workers by pushing them offline. But Sweden’s version goes a step further, explicitly criminalizing online payments for sexual performances, not just facilitation by third-party platforms.

According to ESWA, some Swedish sex workers have already announced plans to leave the country before the law takes effect. Others without the resources to relocate fear they will be forced into more secretive, isolated, and high-risk conditions.

Despite the law’s claim to protect sex workers, Aydin argues that Sweden’s policies directly harm them:

“Our members have had their partners or housemates prosecuted for pimping simply for living together. The rhetoric of protection is not just misleading—it obscures the real pain, fear, and injustice experienced daily by those it claims to defend.”

ESWA and Red Umbrella Sweden delivered an open letter to lawmakers prior to the vote, signed by over 1,500 organizations and individuals, urging Parliament to reject the measure. Those efforts ultimately failed, but advocacy groups say they will continue to campaign against the law and document its impact.

For now, the passage of Sweden’s new law marks a historic and controversial shift: it is the first country in the world to extend the Nordic Model into the realm of digital sex work, setting a precedent that may influence similar laws across Europe and beyond.