Just a week ago, OnlyFans announced it would prohibit sexually explicit content starting October 1. Following the announcement last week, hundreds of thousands of creators who sell explicit photos and videos on the platform reacted fiercely.
London-based content-sharing platform OnlyFans has changed its mind and decided not to ban porn material. As OnlyFans explained, it will be ‘home for all creators’. And according to the company, the ban is no longer required due to banking partners’ assurances that OnlyFans can support all genres of creators.
Thank you to everyone for making your voices heard.
We have secured assurances necessary to support our diverse creator community and have suspended the planned October 1 policy change.
OnlyFans stands for inclusion and we will continue to provide a home for all creators.
— OnlyFans (@OnlyFans) August 25, 2021
The Story Behind the Ban
Just a week ago, OnlyFans announced it would prohibit sexually explicit content starting October 1. As the company stated at that time, the decision followed requests from banking partners and companies that handle financial transactions.
OnlyFans said:
“In order to ensure the long-term sustainability of our platform, and to continue to host an inclusive community of creators and fans, we must evolve our content guidelines.”
The company faced challenges trying to work with banks because of the sexual content it had. As its CEO Tim Stokely said, the banks BNY Mellon, JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), and Metro Bank created ‘unfair’ obstacles to pay creators because of OnlyFans’ association with sex work.
Notably, OnlyFans became a platform popular among sex workers during the pandemic. Subscriptions skyrocketed during the early months of the pandemic. As a result, the company has taken a lot of steps over the past two years to distance itself from the sex workers. However, then sex workers began complaining on spontaneous account deletions, mysterious disappearing funds, and other unannounced changes abounded. Some of them explained they were ‘angry and confused’ by the change.
A sex worker named Nat Cole said:
“They’re giving us less than two months’ notice to now find a new platform to move all of our fans to in an attempt to just survive and keep paying rent.”
Following the announcement last week, hundreds of thousands of creators who sell explicit photos and videos on the platform reacted fiercely.
How OnlyFans Changed Porn Industry Work?
OnlyFans is an online platform and app created in 2016. There, people can pay for content (photos and videos, live streams) via a monthly membership. Main creators of content are YouTubers, fitness trainers, models, content creators, public figures who want to monetise their profession.
OnlyFans claims more than 2 million creators who have earned more than $5 billion on its platform, as well as 130 million users. Last year, the site generated $2 billion in sales. OnlyFans received 20 percent of it.
The platform welcomes all types of content. However, it is most known for pornography since OnlyFans lets people post content that would get them banned on other social media sites like Facebook and Instagram. The site has become increasingly popular for people who have become unemployed due to the coronavirus pandemic, but also, it’s popular amongst sex workers.
Onlyfans has set a minimum subscription price of $4.99 per month and a maximum limit of $49.99 per month. Creators can also charge a minimum of $5 for tips or paid private messages, which can significantly boost earnings for those with a large and loyal subscriber base.