Yes, I think SESTA/FOSTA was a significant contributor. Mostly by shutting down Rouge Book and the Clit Vibrator sites.
But, in the Bay Area, I know that, directly from many of the girls at the time, the large number of one hour, no tip customers, mixed with an almost overwhelming demand for bare services, all at the same price (pretty much the lowest prices in the U.S. at the time), drove those with the most options to exercise those options and move to more favorable markets.
Now that the prices here have moved up, I think some of the motivation to either move away or stay away has reduced.
But, as I’ve said before, kgirls tend to run in groups. Sunbae girls talk to their hoobaes. Friends and hoobaes tend to follow happy, popular girls. This is true in many cultures, not just for Koreans.
I believe that there are multiple dependencies:
* Word of mouth in Korea about the Covid risk in the U.S. (right now it is still perceived as rather high)
* Word of mouth in Korea about favorable earning potential, safety and generally positive treatment of kgirls in the U.S. We all know about the news and its increasing tendency to only focus on the sensational. Which means exaggerated bad news in regards to violence, anti-asian sentiment, etc. Not trying to downplay the existence of these things. But I will argue that it is nowhere near as bad as someone would believe from just the mainstream and social media news.
* A continued lack of financial opportunity in Korea. Only a relative few can make it as an influencer. And Korean girls don’t tend to view porn as favorably as girls from other cultures. The risk of being outed by another Korean is too high, for example.
* (this is a subtopic of the above) From what I’ve heard, Korean salons seem to be becoming less popular for many reasons. That topic deserves its own thread. I’ll leave it to someone else to start that thread if they’re interested.
Do I believe that 2022 will see a return to pre-pandemic and pre-SESTA/FOSTA levels? No. But I do believe it will get significantly better than it is now.