OnlyFans announcement to ban content containing sexually-explicit conduct from October whilst still allowing nudity consistent with its acceptable use policy, has garnered reactions from sex workers and adult content creators on the platform.
The platform was founded in 2016 as a subscription-based website where content creators can sell original content to their fans who get to access it on a subscription basis. However, it became more popular with the influx of sexual workers who use it to entertain their fans with explicit content. This skyrocketed the revenue of the platform; as gathered by CNN, OnlyFans has paid over 1.5 million of its users a total of $5 billion. Two stars who have benefited greatly from the platform are Cardi B and Bella Thorne.
The announcement to ban explicit content leaves sex workers registered on it in shock. Most of them attest to it being their primary source of income having invested years in building their fanbase to yield certain amounts even enough to buy themselves houses.
Speaking to CNN, one of the sex workers regiatered on the platform identified as Siri Dahl who joined in late 2019 said that as at late 2020 she was able to purchase a house with the money she made on the platform. “The simple fact, in my experience, is that no other platform has the level of traffic that OnlyFans has come to have, especially during the pandemic,” Dahl said. “It went absolutely hog wild during the pandemic.”
According to Dahl, the announcement was not the first straw that got creators worried about their fate on the platform. In December 2020, Visa, Mastercard and Discover banned the use of their credit cards on PornHub after a New York Times article reported for the umpteenth time videos of child abuse on the platform. Since then, there has been an observed agonistic relationship between payment companies and pornographic websites.
“Where would you be without the people who gave you your popularity?” one content creator, who goes by Bria Backwoods, said of the announcement. “Without us, I think it will die down.”
Why OnlyFans Decided to Ban Sexually-explicit Contents
To clarify the ban proper, OnlyFans in a statement said that not all explicit content will be disallowed; simple nudity will still be allowed. Only “content containing sexually explicit conduct”, for example, sex acts on camera, will be banned.
OnlyFans said that the move was necessary to secure the long-term sustainability of the platform. As read in an internal document obtained by Axios, “OnlyFans’ popularity and revenue both exploded during the pandemic, yet it has struggled to secure outside investment. Venture capital firms are often wary of investing in platforms that host adult content.”
Also, another reason for the ban is to “comply with the requests of our banking partners and payout providers.” Credit card companies have become conscious of their legal exposure and thus wary of approving payments that are linked to sex trafficking and child sexual abuse materials.
This statement was debunked by a spokesman for Mastercard, Seth Eisen, who said that the company was not involved in the OnlyFans decision. “It’s a decision they came to themselves,” Eisen said.
This still doesn’t solve it as several sex workers on OnlyFans have continued to express their frustration over the announcement. It will no doubt terminate their main source of income, also many worry that if the ban is effective, it will be the ultimate downfall of OnlyFans because the sex workers who make it gain steady traffic will no more be on the platform.
