OnlyFans is another offspring of the creator economy that sells as a social platform attracting fans and monetizing connections. In the beginning, when the earth was not fully created, the site was inclusive of artists and content creators from all genres, including sex workers.
On August 19, 2021, OnlyFans reset the whole premise. The video and visual content sharing platform OnlyFans announced a strict ban on all “sexually-explicit content.” This new strategy will be effective as of October 1, 2021. The origin of this decision remains ambiguous.
OnlyFans has communicated the new plan via its updated Terms of Service policy to all the users of this platform. According to the new Terms of Service policy, point 5 addresses the ban on sexual or sexually explicit content.
Sexual or sexually explicit content extends far and beyond a creator stripping virtually to earn money. It is way beyond a hypothetical “Mia Khalifa” role-playing or a typical pornstar acting seductively to get interested in paying for indulgence. It is not also about selling “bath water.”
OnlyFans taking a stand on “drug-using,” “sadistic porn,” “revenge porn,” “manipulated sexual content,” “deep fakes,” “beastilaity,” or any harm-inducing, “incest” provoking content is not new. But for the sex workers, the complete ban on explicit content creators has not been received well as per their latest tweet we pulled from the Wayback Machine.
Owing to this change in section 5(b) of OnlyFans’ Terms of Service, sexual content creators have until December 1, 2021, to delete all existing content that shows, promotes, advertises or refers to “sexually explicit conduct” or as the designated team will communicate to respective users.
It is interesting to note that in an email to OnlyFans creators, the site mentioned that “Content containing nudity will continue to be allowed as long as it is consistent with the policy.” The statement implies that posts that show off body parts but not doing anything explicit (or zooming in too close) may remain under close moderation. Users not abiding by the new Terms of Service may be responsible for their account being suspended or terminated, and all pending earnings will be withheld.
Sex workers consider the ban on sexual content as an arbitrary move as the brand built its billion-dollar business on sex workers creating the kind of content now banned. It is also strange for OnlyFans to cite this move as a necessary means to secure banking services.
The tweet mentions, “Dear Sex Workers, The OnlyFans community would not be what it is today without you. The policy change was necessary to secure banking and payment services to support you. We are working around the clock to come up with solutions.” Twitter, 21. 08. 2021, 9:25 AM, @onlyfans (ONLYFANS).”
To this change in policy, an angry user comments, “Liars. You took the easy way out. You’ve deprived millions of sex workers of their sole income. You could have implemented better moderation, but instead, you’ve totally fucked us over with barely any time to plan for the future. Just remember, we made you.” Twitter, 21. 08. 2021, 9:27 AM, @xleninacrowne (Ms. Lenina Crowne).
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