OnlyFans membership soared to 130 million during the pandemic but many now say they could struggle to pay bills with strict restrictions to be imposed on content creators from October 1
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Sex workers say OnlyFans’ decision to ban content showing ‘sexually explicit conduct’ puts their futures at risk.
The racy website have announced it will put an end to certain photos and videos following pressure from the company’s payment providers and banking partners.
Users pay up to £25 a month for access to the subscription-only app, famous for its raunchy adult material.
OnlyFans membership surged to 130 million users across the globe during the pandemic – and thousands say the site saved them from financial ruin.
From October 1 members will still be able to post some nude content – but it must be consistent with the company’s strict new policy.
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What’s your view on the OnlyFans ‘porn ban’? Let us know in the comments
Sex workers have slammed the decision to impose restrictions and some say they aren’t sure how they will be able to pay their bills.
Many have taken to twitter to hit out and say their rights are not being protected by the company who take 20 per cent cut of all payment.
One wrote: “I’m absolutely devastated by the news concerning OnlyFans. Anyone that’s been following me lately knows that I just narrowly dodged eviction thanks to that platform and my fans there.
“I have absolutely no idea what I’m going to do now.”
Another content creator said: “I am honestly pretty devastated with the news of OnlyFans removing adult content, while I will be moving platforms I urge you all to see this as yet another example of businesses using and mistreating sex workers. Sex work is work, period, stop treating it like it’s not.”
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A third posted: “OnlyFans is banning all sexually explicit content from their platform. They’ve also made billions off of the backs of sex workers.
“As someone who does sex work on OF, I’m angry for every creator that has relied on OF for an income just to be thrown out. This is so f***ed up.”
The company released a statement on Thursday announcing the change at “the requests of its banking partners and payment providers”.
It reads: “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.
“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 remains committed to the highest levels of safety and content moderation of any social platform.
“All creators are verified prior to being able to upload any content to OnlyFans, and all uploaded content is checked by automated systems and human moderators.”
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MirrorOnline have contacted OnlyFans for comment.
The site was co-founded in 2016 by Essex businessman Tim Stokely.
He told The Independent last year that the company hoped to see a broader range of content creators, from musicians to influencers, using the platform in the future.
“What we are hoping is to see a much broader range of influencers and creators from many different walks of life across the globe coming to OnlyFans to find a temporary home or longer home to use it to produce great content and make a living from it,” he said in April 2020.