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The adult industry was left panic-stricken by Thursday’s news that OnlyFans would no longer be allowing “sexually explicit conduct.” As the news spread across the internet, confusion and fear were met with misinformation and anger.
As the news spread across the internet, confusion and fear were met with misinformation and anger. Content creators immediately took to Twitter in hopes of finding answers or details about the upcoming changes beyond the headlines.
“These changes are to comply with the requests of our banking partners and payout providers. We will be sharing more details in the coming days and we will actively support and guide our creators through this change in content guidelines.”, OnlyFans state.
OnlyFans is a subscription site where content creators can earn money from users for their work. This can be by a pay-per-view system, tips or even money sent monthly to them by subscription.
While content creators from many realms post on OnlyFans, the site has been mainly linked to those who share sexually explicit images.
However, from October 1, that will no longer be allowed, as the platform is banning this type of material, though nude photographs will still be permitted as long as they follow the site’s terms of use.
Speaking to Newsweek, an OnlyFans spokesperson said: “Effective 1 October, 2021, OnlyFans will prohibit the posting of any content containing sexually-explicit conduct. 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. These changes are to comply with the requests of our banking partners and payout providers.
OnlyFans has 130 million users and over 2 million creators that have earned over $5 billion on the platform. OnlyFans’ revenues given the company takes 20 percent of all payments.
An open letter to MasterCard, published here on The Daily Beast, called into question the upcoming removal of consensual adult content. For those that missed it, back in April, MasterCard announced a policy change set to take effect on Oct. 15 requiring “the banks that connect merchants to our network… to certify that the seller of adult content has effective controls in place to monitor, block and, where necessary, take down all illegal content.”
The decision left sex workers wondering how it would affect past content, and whether it was merely the first step toward banning payments for sex work entirely.
UPDATE
As suddenly as it had begun, the pivot was abandoned. The day after its co-founder and adult performance entrepreneur Tim Stokely had given an interview blaming the decision on banks refusing to work with the platform, the firm announced it had struck a deal that would allow normal service to resume. It thanked its “diverse” community but held back from outright acknowledgment of the importance of explicit content on the website.
