âItâs like running a bricks-and-mortar shop and being chased out of town by religious zealots every six months.â
- Lola Hunt, OnlyFans creator
THE STORY
Two weeks ago, the popular subscription-only platform OnlyFans announced it would ban sexually explicit content from the site, starting October.
This decision caused a massive backlash against OnlyFans, which many times has been praised for giving sex workers a safe platform. People who helped it become a multibillion-dollar company were now being effectively kicked out.
And then last Wednesday, surprising absolutely everyone, OnlyFans backed off from its plans. âWe will continue to provide a home for all creators,â wrote the company in a tweet.
WHY IT'S INTERESTING
First, letâs take a look at the reasons behind OnlyFansâ initial decision.
âThe short answer is banks,â said the companyâs CEO Tim Stokely in an interview with Financial Times, adding that OnlyFans âhad no choiceâ but to change its policy. He then explained that some major banks had âflagged and rejectedâ transactions involving OnlyFans and refused service because of âreputational risk.â
Financial companies nowadays are extremely careful not to violate adult content rules set out by payment services giants like MasterCard. This April, MasterCard changed their policies and now will require every adult service to verify the age and consent of performers who publish their content online.
OnlyFans is in a tough spot. On one hand, itâs a $5.9 billion company with over 7 million users who spend money there each month. On the other hand, itâs struggling to find new investors. They seem reluctant to get close to the company thatâs often straight out labeled a porn site.
What makes OnlyFansâ position potentially even more problematic is the fact that sex workers are the very reason why the platform is so popular today. The UK-based company was founded in 2016, but it really boomed last year, when the pandemic forced many creators to find a place that would allow them to charge fans for exclusive content.
And while OnlyFansâ back-and-forth has definitely raised some eyebrows, so far it seems like the platform is not turning its back on the community that helped it become successful (unlike, say, Tumblr).
But with time, it may be pressured to look for different ways of running its business.
Wait, did someone say crypto?
DIG DEEPER
|