OnlyFans prohibits sexually explicit content

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OnlyFans, a subscription-based website that allows creators to be paid to post videos and photos for fans, said Thursday that it plans to ban “content containing sexually explicit conduct” in October while allowing nudity in accordance with its “acceptable use policy”. “ In a statement, the company attributed the changes to the need to ensure “the long-term sustainability of the platform.”

“These changes must comply with the demands of our banking partners and payment providers,” he added.

For some, the decision was confusing: Founded in 2016, the UK-based startup is best known as a platform for sharing and viewing pornographic content. It is with this reputation that it has developed rapidly in recent years. OnlyFans has paid out $ 5 billion to more than 1.5 million creators – including Cardi B and Bella Thorne – and has 150 million users, according to its website.

Sex workers and adult content creators, however, say they weren’t exactly surprised by the change that will fundamentally alter the way they and others use the platform. Anger and disappointment, yes: “Where would you be without the people who gave you your popularity? a content creator, named Bria Backwoods, said of the ad. “Without us, I think it will die out.”

But, as an OnlyFans creator, who goes by Siri Dahl, explained to CNN Business: “There has been some form of rumor and / or panic about OnlyFans chasing sex workers out of the box. the platform fairly steadily over the past year. “

Dahl, who has worked in the adult film industry, said she joined OnlyFans in late 2019 and by early 2020 the site had become her main income. Fast forward to early this year, Dahl said she was able to buy her first home with the money she earned on OnlyFans.

While there are a plethora of other sites and services – including several that Dahl also posts content on – OnlyFan has a simple, easy-to-use interface, a reasonable revenue share (the site collects 20%), and a buzz factor. . “The simple fact, in my experience, is that no other platform has the level of traffic that OnlyFans has managed to have, especially during the pandemic,” Dahl said. “He went absolutely mad during the pandemic. ”

Looking back, Dahl said there were specific inflection points that recently worried creators about the platform’s future for those in his industry. First, in December 2020, when Mastercard, Visa, and Discover prevented customers from using their credit cards to make payments on PornHub after a New York Times Column Earlier this month, he reported videos of alleged child abuse and non-consensual acts on the platform. The move shed light on the controversial relationship between payment processors and pornographic websites. Then, news has surfaced OnlyFans was seeking investor funding for a billion dollar valuation, but venture capitalists are often reluctant to partner with adult content.

Another creator, named Maya Morena, said she joined OnlyFans about four years ago and worked incredibly hard to build a fan base on the platform. She said she was able to go from full-service sex work – meeting clients in person – to her earnings from OnlyFans supporting her.

“During the Covid, I just quit [full-service sex work] completely because it’s gotten too dangerous, ”Morena said, adding that“ it was the best month I’ve had on OnlyFans… and now he’s practically ruined ”.

Morena said that while she is frustrated and angry, she has also been through this before ever using services such as Backpage.com, the classifieds website which closed in 2018; Craigslist, which closed its dating section that same year; and Tumblr, which banned pornography at the end of this year.

“Every time I lose platforms, I lose a significant amount of money but also my connection with my follower base, and I lose so much of my job,” said Morena, who added that she had planned to leave the industry but did not. I don’t plan to do this anytime soon.

“It’s not easy to leave the industry. Usually an exit plan takes several years,” she said, noting that she is enrolled in college and has rent to pay. . She said that while she will likely start looking for a job soon, it can be difficult to get hired with an online presence of this nature that is easily detectable.

While the initial announcement left a few questions about what content would be considered sexually explicit and how the policy would be enforced, OnlyFans, in an email to the creators on Friday, clarified this by sending a link to its new acceptable use policy which details more details. The company said in the email that “existing content that does not meet the standards of the new policy will need to be removed by December 1, 2021.”

Morena said she thinks the change will mean she will have to be “like [Instagram] models… like some kind of Disney sex appeal, that’s what I imagine it will be, “she said.” Do I want to get more sanitized, or will I just find a -different shape where I can do the same content? “

Backwoods, who said OnlyFans has been her main source of income since shortly after joining the platform in 2018, said her current strategy is to build her email subscriber list so that she can take her fans with her wherever she lands next. “I think things are ending and it’s been a good race. I don’t think we’ll be sure. [OnlyFans] much longer, “she said.” A lot of guys on the Internet – trolls or whatever – laugh at [the news] but they do not understand that it is literally the livelihood of the people. [People are] make six figures and pay federal taxes on that money. ”

Dahl said that “in October I will be offering my explicit content elsewhere,” while noting that she plans to keep her OnlyFans account active. “It will just become like a bit riskier Instagram account,” she said.

She said she finds herself in “one of the most privileged configurations” given that she has hundreds of thousands of Instagram and Twitter followers, a fan subnet, and more. But the change could still be “incredibly difficult” for her.

“Even Twitter allows explicit content as long as your account is configured to be flagged as sensitive content,” Dahl said. “It would be weird to live in a world where Twitter is more pro-sex worker than OnlyFans.”

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