[Calderyon]

OnlyFans bans explicit content

Devin Coldewey@techcrunch / 10:09 PM GMT+3•August 19, 2021

OnlyFans has announced that it will ban sexually explicit content starting in October. The platform was not built specifically for porn but that has grown to be its most popular and visible use case, but pressure from “banking partners and payout providers” means the company will have to leave the adult content world behind and focus solely on SFW material going forward.

The news, first reported by Bloomberg, was confirmed by the company in a statement:

Effective 1 October, 2021, OnlyFans will prohibit the posting of any content containing sexually-explicit conduct. In order to ensure the long-term sustainability of the platform, and to continue to host an inclusive community of creators and fans, we must evolve our content guidelines. Creators will continue to be allowed to post content containing nudity as long as it is consistent with our Acceptable Use Policy.

These changes are to comply with the requests of our banking partners and payout providers.

We will be sharing more details in the coming days and we will actively support and guide our creators through this change in content guidelines.

OnlyFans did not respond to TechCrunch’s inquiries as to its definition of sexually explicit content or how it expected this would impact the company’s bottom line.

The OnlyFans platform has become the de facto standard for independent creators doing adult content. Over the pandemic it grew increasingly popular as the adult industry, like others, had its normal operations interrupted. It has proved an invaluable asset for many creators, professional and aspiring, who used the platform to directly monetize fans without interacting with notoriously predatory established adult industry companies.

But sex work has always been risky in online operations. The practical risk of hosting illegal content means platforms must exert constant vigilance for things like child sex abuse material, malicious content like revenge porn and unwanted leaks, and everyday internet threats like piracy.

At the organizational level, however, the companies may find it difficult to scale due to the trepidation of investors and banks, both of which tend to avoid the industry in general as a “vice,” much the way cannabis and sex toy startups have faced challenges. Pushback from financial backers and payment processors can effectively sink an entire business model.

OnlyFans in this case says openly that it is abandoning adult content due to exactly this type of pressure. While the company has recently debuted and promoted its OFTV app, a SFW alternative to the main OnlyFans site, and of course there are many creators on the platform who do not produce sexually explicit content, this will be an enormous blow to both the sex work industry and to the company itself. Affected creators were not notified ahead of time.

“This is going to shatter a lot of people’s main source of income, the foundation of their entire business,” said Tristan West, who as dreamboytristan is a top creator of adult content on OnlyFans. “Me and a lot of people have got to do a lot of work to secure our business, move our assets, move our content to another platform. It’s not the end of the world, but this is a huge setback.”

West noted that other platforms are finding ways to monetize adult content as well, such as Twitter adding its paid follows and sites like PornHub building out direct monetization opportunities as well. But OnlyFans holds all the cards and will need to make that transition possible.

“I’d like to see them do what’s needed — it’s weird that they haven’t come to us and talked to us in any way,” said West. “Offer a quick option to download all your content on OnlyFans — that’s your asset, that’s your business. That’s the bare minimum that they can do for creators.”

It’s a serious question whether OnlyFans will be able to survive this transition in any recognizable form. The choice to abandon their most lucrative and loyal segment of customers and creators may poison the well, with others declining to rely on a platform that failed to support others. Investors, once wary of the risk of putting money into a sex-adjacent product, may now be wary of paying to board a sinking ship. That $1 billion valuation may be farther away than ever.

The obvious and immediate answer from the tech community is to operate OnlyFans or something like it using cryptocurrencies, which are generally speaking not subject to these limitations. This may represent a way forward for the next platform, but for OnlyFans it may be too late to adapt.

“Thankfully, we have a couple months,” West said. “OnlyFans was the top platform in this market but they’re not the only one. It’s an opportunity for someone else to come around and do better for sex workers and online creators.”

This story is developing and may be updated in the near future with more information.

https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/19/on...OoK5LbyTdd0Wn0

Bye, bye OnlyFans.

[Tom4784]

Deleted Post

[Toy Soldier]

The entire culture is toxic and the whole concept should be banned. I wonder if in part it's because of all of the 15-year-old TikTok girls gathering huge followings at 15/16/17 and then starting an onlyfans the day they turn 18 (utterly, utterly ****ing gross).

Massive problem, massive threat to vulnerable girls and young women, mental health catastrophe, and simply bolsters (even celebrates?) the idea that women are a commodity for men to consume.

I know they can make a lot of money doing it. That makes it worse. I hope they do put an end to it, and I hope that anything that rises in the ashes of it gets shut down too.

[bitontheslide]

the owners are lucky they are not in jail for hosting under age content. There are plenty other sites where they at least have some processes in place to check ages.

[thesheriff443]

It depends how you view the women who do fans only, obviously every one should be at least 18 and checks should be done

There are vulnerable woman in all jobs but women that do fans only I would say are strong independent women that make a lot of money and are far safer than women working on the streets

You could argue it’s wrong but look at love island that is on mainstream television involving people going on a show to win a prize wearing next to nothing and having sex

Just to add I don’t go on fans only sites

[michael21]

All thoses youtubers will be broke now

[Nicky91]

poor Mihai

[Smithy]

Everyone will move to just for fans, they’re just shooting themselves in the foot

[Captain.Remy]

Back to retail for a lot of them then.
Also, sex work is work and Only Fans was a great platform for sex workers. They will have to find another place to host their content.
And Only Fans is about to know the same fate as Tumblr: the death of their website

[Oliver_W]

I've never been on OnlyFans but I assumed it was a platform exclusively for camwhores

What will the "sex 'workers' " do now?!

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

The entire culture is toxic and the whole concept should be banned. I wonder if in part it's because of all of the 15-year-old TikTok girls gathering huge followings at 15/16/17 and then starting an onlyfans the day they turn 18 (utterly, utterly ****ing gross).

Massive problem, massive threat to vulnerable girls and young women, mental health catastrophe, and simply bolsters (even celebrates?) the idea that women are a commodity for men to consume.

I know they can make a lot of money doing it. That makes it worse. I hope they do put an end to it, and I hope that anything that rises in the ashes of it gets shut down too.

Originally Posted by bitontheslide

the owners are lucky they are not in jail for hosting under age content. There are plenty other sites where they at least have some processes in place to check ages.

Yep totally agree with these.

[Oliver_W]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

The entire culture is toxic and the whole concept should be banned. I wonder if in part it's because of all of the 15-year-old TikTok girls gathering huge followings at 15/16/17 and then starting an onlyfans the day they turn 18 (utterly, utterly ****ing gross).

Massive problem, massive threat to vulnerable girls and young women, mental health catastrophe, and simply bolsters (even celebrates?) the idea that women are a commodity for men to consume.

I know they can make a lot of money doing it. That makes it worse. I hope they do put an end to it, and I hope that anything that rises in the ashes of it gets shut down too.

100% agreed.

[Toy Soldier]

Originally Posted by Captain.Remy

Also, sex work is work and Only Fans was a great platform for sex workers. They will have to find another place to host their content.

The legitimisation of porn/sex work as "normal work" leads countless thousands of teenage girls and young women down a route that many of them end up regretting and with a myriad of mental health implications. They see these messages everywhere that it's a normal and empowering way to make money and at 18 years old they don't have the understanding, introspection or foresight to understand how they're going to feel about it by the time they're 30 (spoiler: for most, the answer is "not very good"). On top of that, legitimizing the culture of men (usually older men) leering at women (usually younger women) in exchange for cash is not empowering in the slightest, it's normalisation of the toxic commoditisation of women's bodies. There is literally nothing good about any of it, other than that some people make a living from it, for a short period of time, and then end up depressed and with few real career prospects other than actual prostitution because by the time they hit 25 their "fans" will have moved onto the latest 18 year old. The whole thing is so gross it actually makes me furious... the TikTok girl -> onlyfans -> next TikTok girl conveyor belt is an absolute disaster.

Absolutely no judgement on the women by the way; I fully understand why they're tempted into it. If you'd told me I could get naked on webcam at 18 and make a 6-figure-plus salary I'd have been right on there. In fact that's part of what concerns me. I didn't give a **** at that age. Eventually, you start to give a ****.

I'm also under no illusions that sex work can be eliminated because the world is what it is (i.e. often grim). But I completely reject the notion that it's in any way "empowering"... a sad illusion that serves no one but the consumer. I believe that makes me a "SWERF"? hard to hear I suppose, for those involved in the industry and the slimes who are paying for it. The ones who would actually care if they thought it was exploitative anyway. Which isn't many of them.

100% happy judging the people paying for it. Pondlife.

[Niamh.]

Yeah great post TS, the line that this **** is "empowering" for women really rubs me up the wrong way too

[Niamh.]

Maybe if every little girl had a dad like this guy we'd have much more truly empowered women

https://fb.watch/7vdxLuVA1t/

[thesheriff443]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

Maybe if every little girl had a dad like this guy we'd have much more truly empowered women

https://fb.watch/7vdxLuVA1t/

I’ve been saying this for years like kids shoes have to have stripper heals or shorts that show kids bum cheeks

Kids grow into adults but the clothing industry and makeup industry feed off of younger girls

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by thesheriff443

I’ve been saying this for years like kids shoes have to have stripper heals or shorts that show kids bum cheeks

Kids grow into adults but the clothing industry and makeup industry feed off of younger girls

It shows you just how early the conditioning of girls starts

[thesheriff443]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

It shows you just how soon the conditioning of girls starts

Of course it does

[Glenn.]

Originally Posted by Smithy

Everyone will move to just for fans, they’re just shooting themselves in the foot

This really

[Toy Soldier]

Originally Posted by Smithy

Everyone will move to just for fans, they’re just shooting themselves in the foot

Originally Posted by Glenn.

This really

Maybe so for now but knocking a big player off the board is usually an indication that a "tide is turning". Pornhub's crackdown on anonymous uploading and "who can post porn" did have a decent knock-on effect on these sites generally (they're still awful, but the "amateur violence" is decreasing).

[Captain.Remy]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

The legitimisation of porn/sex work as "normal work" leads countless thousands of teenage girls and young women down a route that many of them end up regretting and with a myriad of mental health implications. They see these messages everywhere that it's a normal and empowering way to make money and at 18 years old they don't have the understanding, introspection or foresight to understand how they're going to feel about it by the time they're 30 (spoiler: for most, the answer is "not very good"). On top of that, legitimizing the culture of men (usually older men) leering at women (usually younger women) in exchange for cash is not empowering in the slightest, it's normalisation of the toxic commoditisation of women's bodies. There is literally nothing good about any of it, other than that some people make a living from it, for a short period of time, and then end up depressed and with few real career prospects other than actual prostitution because by the time they hit 25 their "fans" will have moved onto the latest 18 year old. The whole thing is so gross it actually makes me furious... the TikTok girl -> onlyfans -> next TikTok girl conveyor belt is an absolute disaster.

Absolutely no judgement on the women by the way; I fully understand why they're tempted into it. If you'd told me I could get naked on webcam at 18 and make a 6-figure-plus salary I'd have been right on there. In fact that's part of what concerns me. I didn't give a **** at that age. Eventually, you start to give a ****.

I'm also under no illusions that sex work can be eliminated because the world is what it is (i.e. often grim). But I completely reject the notion that it's in any way "empowering"... a sad illusion that serves no one but the consumer. I believe that makes me a "SWERF"? hard to hear I suppose, for those involved in the industry and the slimes who are paying for it. The ones who would actually care if they thought it was exploitative anyway. Which isn't many of them.

100% happy judging the people paying for it. Pondlife.

The background of it all is questionable on every level as you mentionned and I don't recall saying it was empowering or a good thing for everybody.
Some say it's better for these people to be in charge of their content from home rather than signing deals with production companies that don't treat them right. Some want sex work to be completely eradicated but to be honest it's never going to be therefore some want a safer working environment and so on...

Some end up regretting it, some don't. And for those who don't, it's legit work to them. Let's not judge them for their choices (not saying you do, I'm speaking in general terms). And it's not about just young girls also, boys get into this too at a very young age or older (Though the current system is tougher and more oriented towards girls than boys.)

I think a lot of people get into this industry thinking it's innocent or just fun and I would say it's also incumbent on these hosting platforms to really warn these people about what they are going to post.
Surely it doesn't replace family, their environment, their beliefs, the system that got them here but maybe some warnings could help to an extent.

[Shaun]

I'm confused as to why this discussion is being centred around barely-legal women when... many other demographics use the platform

[Smithy]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

Maybe so for now but knocking a big player off the board is usually an indication that a "tide is turning". Pornhub's crackdown on anonymous uploading and "who can post porn" did have a decent knock-on effect on these sites generally (they're still awful, but the "amateur violence" is decreasing).

Pretty sure JFF was launched after OF purely for porn content

Originally Posted by Shaun

I'm confused as to why this discussion is being centred around barely-legal women when... many other demographics use the platform

Bc this site is full of middle aged heterosexuals

[Toy Soldier]

Originally Posted by Shaun

I'm confused as to why this discussion is being centred around barely-legal women when... many other demographics use the platform

You're "confused" about why the exploitation and commoditisation of teenage girls on a platform that enables/encourages is a massive part of the discussion, because "other people use it too"?

Are you "confused" about why Pornhub had to make sweeping changes to their posting policy due to a plague of underage porn and rape porn, because "it wasn't ALL kids and rape"?

I don't think it's particularly confusing, but maybe I'm just not seeing the bigger picture. After all, is it REALLY important to focus on the generation of young girls growing up in the belief that selling their body is an empowering career choice, when we should be acknowledging that there are also a couple of blokes selling foot pics to grubby old men?

I also don't think "Hey... it's not just girls, gay teenage boys are also selling sex pics to disgusting old men " is much of a selling point.

The whole thing is a load of whataboutery anyway; the vast (VAST) majority of "content creators" on onlyfans are women under the age of 25 and ignoring that by pointing out that there are "other demographics too" isn't going to fly.

[Toy Soldier]

Originally Posted by Smithy

Bc this site is full of middle aged heterosexuals

Yes look at us fuddy-duddy old middle aged heteros, caring about underage girls being drawn into believing that selling their bodies to blokes is a viable and empowering a career choice. Pff. What a bunch of old stick-in-the-muds am I right? Young, hip, cool lads like yourself couldn't give a stuff about the exploitation of young women. What a massive shock!