Why OnlyFans’ porn U-turn hasn’t stopped adult performers worrying
Creators fear further financial censorship
Sex sells
OnlyFans doesn’t solely feature sexual content, but the site has become synonymous with porn.
The company offers adult performers an attractive deal. They can choose exactly what they create, directly monetize their audience, and keep 80% of what they charge.
“We make more money and have more control over our image on OnlyFans than we ever had on a porn site,” says Darling. “We’re our own bosses now.”
Their content has also proven lucrative for OnlyFans. The company took in revenues of $390 million and pre-tax profits of nearly $74 million in the year to November 2020.
Dirty business
OnlyFans blamed the proposed ban on payment providers, but the platform’s sexual contenthas also reportedly deterred investors.
Financial services firms have long been wary of adult entertainment’s high risk ofdisputed charges and scandals. But Darling points to another factor in their clampdown: heavy pressure from anti-porn crusaders, such as Exodus Cry and the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE).
Both organizations have roots in the Christian Right. The groups say their mission is to end sex trafficking, but critics argue that theyconflateconsensual sex work with trafficking.Activists also warn that banning porn willpush people into more dangerous conditions.
When OnlyFans announced its plan to ban porn, NCOSEissued a statement claiming that itswork with payment processors had forced the move. Unsurprisingly, the group criticized the policy reversal.
“OnlyFans has chosen to continue its exploitation, despite knowing that it will face increasing criminal scrutiny over reports of filmed child sexual abuse, sex trafficking, and other non-consensually recorded sex acts being sold on its website,” said Haley McNamara, vice president of NCOSE.
Darling says the OnlyFans debacle was “terrifying” because it showed the power that these organizations possess:
NCOSE and Exodus Cry had previously pressured Mastercard and Visa to cut their ties with Pornhub. Last year, the companiessuspended payments on the sitefollowing reports that the platform hosted videos of child abuse and rape.
Another of their high-profile scalps is Cosmopolitan, which NCOSE compares to porn. In 2018, the group successfullycampaigned for Walmart to remove the magazinefrom the retailer’s checkout aisle.
NCOSE has also takenlegal action after Twitter, another platform used by adult performers.
Unlike Facebook and Instagram, Twitter still allows users to post porn. The company also recently launched, an OnlyFans-like feature,Super Follows, that lets users charge subscribers for exclusive content.
TheSuper Follows policiesdon’t provide specific details on how adult content will be moderated, but if they follow the site’s regular standards, it could allow users to post porn.
Darling, however, worries that the feature will have an adverse effect on adult performers, who currently use Twitter to convert followers into paying fans. Super Follows, she says, could make the company “very financially motivated to remove us from the platform and cut our direct tie to our fans.”
OnlyFans may have escaped financial censorship for now, but Darling fears that banks and right-wings lobbyists will push more businesses to stifle freedom of expression.
Story byThomas Macaulay
Thomas is a senior reporter at TNW. He covers European tech, with a focus on AI, cybersecurity, and government policy.Thomas is a senior reporter at TNW. He covers European tech, with a focus on AI, cybersecurity, and government policy.
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