OnlyFans today announced an upcoming ban on "sexually explicit" material in a move that will affect a large amount of the content that creators post on the platform. Nudity will still be allowed, but OnlyFans has yet to detail where it will draw the line between acceptable and unacceptable content.
Critics of the move pointed out that it will reduce income for sex workers who helped make the site popular. OnlyFans said in a statement that it is making the change "to comply with the requests of our banking partners and payout providers." The new strategy also seems to be part of OnlyFans' attempt to attract investors at a valuation of $1 billion, a project that has reportedly hit a roadblock because of the site's racy content.
"Effective October 1, 2021, OnlyFans will prohibit the posting of any content containing sexually explicit conduct," OnlyFans said in a statement the company provided to Ars. "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."
OnlyFans did not define "sexually explicit conduct" or provide guidelines on what will and won't be allowed. The company said it "will be sharing more details in the coming days and we will actively support and guide our creators through this change in content guidelines." The Acceptable Use Policy currently says that content featuring "sexual activities" is allowed if it features only consenting adults and is not filmed in a public place, so there will presumably be some changes to that text by October 1.
OnlyFans, a UK company founded in 2016, says it has 200 employees, 150 million registered users, and over 1.5 million content creators. It says it "has paid out over $3 billion in creator earnings" since its founding.
Sex workers “built [OnlyFans] into a major platform”
"OnlyFans would be nothing without the sex workers whose labor built it up into a major platform," journalist and labor organizer Kim Kelly wrote on Twitter today. "Now it's tossing them aside and removing a vital source of income from a population of workers who are disproportionately marginalized and have no protections under US labor law."
OnlyFans' move away from NSFW content includes this week's launch of OFTV, which it calls "a curated platform" where "all content is required to meet our minimum quality and safe for work standards."
OnlyFans made $375 million in net revenue in 2020 and expects $1.2 billion in 2021 and $2.5 billion in 2022, an Axios report today said. Despite its revenue, OnlyFans "is struggling to find outside investors, according to multiple sources," Axios wrote. OnlyFans hired a merchant bank to help it solicit venture capital in the spring, but "[s]everal deep-pocketed firms quickly passed, not even engaging in serious due diligence," the report said.
"In short, OnlyFans has a porn problem, even though it never once mentions porn in its pitch-deck (something that multiple investors called 'disingenuous')," the report said. The pitch-deck, compiled at the end of March, said that over 300 OnlyFans creators earn at least $1 million a year and that about 16,000 earn at least $50,000 a year, Axios wrote.
Remember Tumblr?
Obviously, banning much of the content that makes OnlyFans popular could significantly reduce its user base and revenue. "Did no one at OnlyFans call Verizon to ask how Tumblr worked out?" telco and antitrust attorney Paul Overbite asked on Twitter.
Yahoo bought Tumblr for $1.1 billion in 2013, and Verizon bought Yahoo's operating business, including Tumblr, for $4.48 billion in June 2017. Verizon banned porn and most nudity on Tumblr about six months after buying Yahoo, and in 2019, it sold Tumblr to Automattic. Tumblr was by then worth a fraction of its previous value. The sale price wasn't announced but was reportedly "well below" $20 million.
213 Reader Comments
They want to make money and need access to payment processors and banks to do it.
No banks and payment processors, no money...
The Onion, you've outdone yourself!
But, on a serious note, the best time to decriminalize sex work was yesterday, and the second best time is today. Everyone sells their body, it's just a matter of how.
I predict the quick demise of OnlyFans as the vast majority of its users search for a new home.
They want to make money and need access to payment processors and banks to do it.
No banks and payment processors, no money...
This right here. It's incredibly doubtful that anyone at OnlyFans really wanted to eliminate the NSFW content, but when the group that controls the purse strings says "do X or we'll drop you", you're probably gonna do X.
I have zero doubts that this will simply lead to some OF replacement within a month or two.
They not taking credit card payments for other porn sites either?
Financial processors are still run by private institutions right? So, as far as the US is concerned, their remit starts and ends with the right to free association, however unfortunate that might be in certain situations.
The current owners are just looking to cash out while the getting is good.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=c_o8vYUU-jo1
With all the money sloshing around out there you can't tell me nobody is willing to fund a porn site.
OHHH, maybe it's because the power is in the hands of the participants, not a production company or other vulture? That makes more sense.
Last edited by Roguish on Thu Aug 19, 2021 4:02 pm
I need to get one of our salespeople to call up OF and tell em we'll process it all...
The pressure is extra legal. That is, the pressure is from banks and payment processors, not governments, at least not directly.
There are plenty of companies that have had to alter their policies or switch to things like money orders, cryptocurrencies, cheques and cash for doing business.
The three categories of company I'm familiar with are sex related, cannabis related, and "free speech" related.
From what I can gather, this will be extremely damaging to OnlyFans. People need a place for sex work, and that kind of content. Companies and crazy groups keep trying to drive NSFW work off the Internet, resulting in this jumping from place to place.
The banks and payment services need to stop acquiescing to these groups. If the content is legal, then they need to process payment for it. That should be law. Digital payments are very much the norm now. Stuffing cash in an envelope and mailing it to a PO Box is very much NOT an alternative to digital payments. These banks control our money, deciding what we can and cannot pay for outside of the law, yet we focus on the platforms themselves.
Parasocial relationships are a hell of a drug.
“Why do people buy food in grocery stores when it’s just laying around outside for free?”
A friend of mine from is a creator on OF, she says that the OF contacts she's talked to have told her that "Explicit Sexual Content" in this case refers to " incest, bestiality, violence, rape, lack of consent, hypnosis, intoxication, sexual assault, torture, sadomasochistic abuse or hardcore bondage, extreme fisting, or genital mutilation." -- seems like a bunch of those all refer to the same thing -- Then another one of her sources said "this is another crackdown on unverified/underage users" apparently Visa/Mastercard are witholding payments due to unverified creators or threatening to, at least.
I guess we'll see on Oct 1st. -- just like tumblr, OF could become about as useful as a spoon in a salad.
Or how about an Ars OnlyFans? We could chip in to watch Jim do unspeakable things to zfs.
Last edited by bthylafh on Thu Aug 19, 2021 4:05 pm
No, it is socially risk conservative. The same banks who won’t deal with companies who produce firearms or accessories, gun shops, etc. Or deal with weed. Porn. Sex toys.
They don’t want anyone on either side to point to something they do business with and scream boycott or similar.
They want to make money and need access to payment processors and banks to do it.
No banks and payment processors, no money...
Okay, but no core business or audience, also no money.
They want to make money and need access to payment processors and banks to do it.
No banks and payment processors, no money...
Okay, but no core business or audience, also no money.
It's 0 money, or a very slim possibility of some money...
And you can just look in a mirror.
Because the assholes on OF don't stink, unlike on other platforms like Twitter or Facebook.
To be clear, if OnlyFans is fostering abusive material, it should be held accountable for that. But that should be for the courts to decide, not the whims of a monopoly.
This is what really sinks their plan. If they ban sex workers who is going to need payment processing on Only Fans now? Tumblr was at least known for much more than porn.
Last edited by SymmetricChaos on Thu Aug 19, 2021 4:13 pm
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