Woodkirk Stone
When news of OnlyFans’ proposed ban on sexually explicit behavior broke on August 21, sex workers and adult performers, for whom the platform has become a lifeline during the pandemic, were the last to the knowledge.
As reports spread across social media and grabbed headlines around the world, the company itself regularly denied the story when it requested responses from frantic users. It wasn’t until hours later that they confirmed the planned policy change, which would see sexually explicit behavior and content banned on OnlyFans from October 1.
The blame for these sudden and seismic changes in the platform’s content policies, said OnlyFans founder and CEO Tim Stokely, lies with banks and payment providers like Mastercard, Visa and the Bank of New York Mellon. .
“This move was made to protect their funds and subscriptions from the increasingly unfair actions of banks and media companies – obviously we don’t want to lose our most loyal creators,” Stokely told the Financial Time.
The policy change proposed by OnlyFans was described by the company in a statement as necessary “to ensure the long-term sustainability of the platform” and “to comply with the demands of our banking partners and payment providers” .
The ban, which would have banned sexual intercourse, masturbation, the “extreme” exposure of genitals or sexual bodily fluids in content uploaded to the platform, came in the wake of the ban on payments by Mastercard and Visa at PornHub last year.
Concerns over PornHub’s inability to adequately moderate content and protect users from vengeful pornography, child pornography (CSAM) and videos depicting rape have prompted financial giants to stop supporting the platform. But PornHub’s moderation failures, and similar concerns about underage users accessing OnlyFans, have seen concerns from large companies about reputational risk taking precedence over the platform’s content creators and their safety.
When the pandemic struck in early 2020, sex work and life as we knew it were dramatically shifted online. The result for OnlyFans was that in April 2021, the company had recorded £ 1.7 billion in transactions, increased its user base to over 150 million users and saw its revenue increase by 553%, according to the Financial Times.
Such an increase in the number of users, with a 75% month-over-month increase in March 2020, has made it even more difficult for creators to break into the highest percentage of top earners on the platform. form. But for sex workers who turned to the platform due to lack of financial support from governments during the pandemic, OnlyFans was still a much needed source of income.
Scottish adult content creator Alice Mayflower says she has gone into “crisis mode” since OnlyFans’ explicit driving ban was announced and its meteoric overthrow. Having used OnlyFans for three years, Alice, 25, says that although she was fortunate enough to have another job during the pandemic, “the money I received from OnlyFans was vital to my survival.”
“I ran through pretty much all of my savings and everything from being stuck and locked up – and I actually caught Covid and was too sick to work for about a month,” Alice said.
“So it was basically a month with no income, which was really stressful.
“But knowing I had at least something from OnlyFans, I managed to keep my head above water.”
In light of OnlyFans’ recent actions, however, Alice has found herself scrambling to find alternative platforms on which to host her explicit content – no longer feeling that OnlyFans cares about well-being or livelihoods of sex workers.
“Over the past week, I’ve spent more time than I would like to admit trying to find information, share information and move all my content to other platforms, but also doing research these platforms as much as possible and as quickly as I can, â€Alice said.
And despite OnlyFans’ announcement that the policy change would be put on hold, that hasn’t alleviated the ‘nightmare’ that Alice said she and many other sex workers using the platform are in now. .
OnlyFans’ flip-flop over the policy change led Alice to create seven new accounts on alternative websites, unsure if these could also be ripped off due to instant content policy decisions.
“As soon as the news of the porn ban got out, everyone was like, ‘Oh, it’s okay, change the platform,’ but it was never going to be that easy,†said Alice.
“The thing with OnlyFans was that it had become mainstream – everyone knew what it was, everyone felt comfortable using it. But moving elsewhere means going to sites whose subscribers haven’t heard of or don’t trust.
Another Scottish sex worker, who wished to remain anonymous, said she too tried to walk away from OnlyFans but the task was daunting.
“The reason many of us will stay on OnlyFans is because it has become the site for porn and adult content – it’s the name buyers trust and know,†they said. declared.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do other than hope my followers move with me to other sites, but unfortunately if OnlyFans is where the money stays, I’ll have to stay there – which I don’t. really not desperately want to do. “
Dr Anastacia Elle Ryan, Founder of the Sex Worker-Led Welfare and Charity Project in Scotland Umbrella Lane, said OnlyFans’ announcement that the planned ban on sexually explicit behavior is being suspended “only keeps people in limbo.”
A member of the Department of Sociology at the University of Glasgow, Dr Ryan believes the recent events of OnlyFans reflect a wider global context of heightened hostility towards and dismissal of sex workers.
“A lot of people don’t realize and appreciate how much work it takes to build a profile or customer base on one platform like OnlyFans and how much it takes to do it on another platform,†a- she declared.
“The decision was just a complete disregard of the work that goes into sex work, emotional work, especially on OnlyFans where people may have followers who keep talking to you and having conversations with you. – it’s not about posting a few photos.
Dr Ryan continued, “I think what this affair with OnlyFans has done is show that if such companies can hide behind the online platform, social media and the power of connected global movements. Sex workers are also very powerful as a backlash.
“So I hope this can serve as a lesson for other platforms that are moving in the same direction, but I hope it is also an opportunity to talk about the wider discrimination faced by sex workers. from multiple institutions both online and in person. ”
OnlyFans has been contacted for comment.