I was looking at that article earlier today as it was an interesting metric as it also includes other (sexual based and non-sexual based) content creators/influencers/IG models, etc. in the same classification that also attempts to use that method to get a visa which was normally reserved for famous entertainers and those well-known in their fields (academic, culture, and so on). It's been a known loophole (thousands still get rejected too) to get it that way (for those that create sexual content on any social media platform and I'm figuring most of these are single people and not couples) as it steps into the argument of Porn vs Prostitution, where the former is technically legal. With these visas, you aren't supposed to make any money/work outside of what was stated on your application/employer/sponsoring agent- but that's pretty tough to enforce, especially "collaborations".
It's why sometimes you'll see someone with adult content suddenly clean up their social media presence (including any references to collaborations, fan contacts, etc.) and lock their stuff behind OnlyFans or a pay wall. They'll basically scrub their (free) online presence as much as they can to tweak up their image, but the real stuff/info takes effort to see and consume behind platforms like OF. Of course, you'll then see that person has made it through the process and is now approved to visit the US. Sometimes the bold ones will resume their same work, but with content now developed in the US. Other times, you'll see their content after they have left the US.
It's why the legit ones now go through lawyers to where they word/document it as well as they can so they don't look like they are visiting for any type of (sex) work. It's not fool-proof though even with a lawyer, but they also admit it varies on the government worker doing a background check on you lol. They also mentioned that while social media has evolved to potentially show a level of fame/money that technically falls into qualifying for these types of visas (non-sex), a lot of these approvals in retrospect should have been denied. My assumption is that the process will become much harder for these types of people trying to use this as a loophole to get a visa by tying their social media presence to their application (at least for the sex-based ones).
I think ultimately this stuff likely falls under the review of prostitution and
commercialized vice. The commercialized vice definition is likely what the US government worker uses as a baseline when doing their due diligence and potentially flags their background/social media platform/online snapshot as relating more to that. I think for prostitution, they need more legit facts to deem it as that justification for denials which I don't think is as common unless their social media platform explicitly advertises it or their background shows prostitution/sex related offenses (which likely gets you close to an instant visa rejection).
It's definitely an interesting discussion, especially regarding the Porn vs. Prostitution debate. With how murky that grey area is, I can't blame them for why they think the process/categories are watered down at this point when it comes to qualifying for these types of visas.