Popular subscription service OnlyFans, overwhelmingly filled with pornography, will reportedly ban “sexually explicit” images and videos on the site starting in October, yet has left many confused as it later clarified that nude content will still be allowed.
Variety reports that the social media subscription platform OnlyFans has announced that from October it will be banning “sexually explicit” images and videos. This came as a shock to many given that while some celebrities, musicians, and comedians have OnlyFans accounts, the vast majority of the platform is comprised of pornography.
Since the initial announcement, OnlyFans has clarified that nude content is still acceptable on the platform but will need to be consistent with the firm’s updated policies. In a statement, OnlyFans said: “In order to ensure the long-term sustainability of our platform, and continue to host an inclusive community of creators and fans, we must evolve our content guidelines.”
The decision to ban sexual conduct reportedly comes following pressure from payment processors who were unhappy with much of the content on OnlyFans and the high rate of chargebacks they received.
The move by OnlyFans to crack down on pornography also comes shortly after the company was approached by BBC News which had received leaked internal documents that raised concerns about OnlyFans’ handling of illegal content on the platform.
BBC News claimed in May that OnlyFans was failing to verify the age of many of its creators, allowing those under the age of 18 to post explicit videos to the platform which is illegal. Recently leaked documents now appear to show that accounts are not automatically banned for breaking the site’s terms of service.
Moderators for the platform told BBC News that they discovered multiple prostitution services on the platform as well as bestiality material and even instances of what moderators believed to be incest. In one video that was banned from the platform, a man is seen eating feces; in another, a man appears to pay a homeless man to engage in sexual acts with him.
One moderator told BBC News that he has found a disturbing amount of illegal content on the platform including videos of bestiality involving dogs, the use of spy cams to record individuals apparently without their knowledge, and drug usage. The moderator claimed that on multiple occasions OnlyFans told him that he was “over-moderating” content particularly in relation to videos showing public sex acts.
Prostitution has also become a major issue on the platform, with one moderator telling BBC News that some creators host competitions to increase tip payments where the winning fan can meet and have sex with them. One leaked document showed that OnlyFans was aware of the issue, stating that adverts for sex were a major issue for the platform.
Dr. Sarah Roberts, a co-director of the Center for Critical Internet Inquiry at UCLA, reviewed the leaked documents obtained by BBC News and determined that they show that OnlyFans has “some tolerance” for illegal material. “This suggests that they know the type of illegal content that their users are trying to upload enough to have templates for it,” Dr. Roberts said.
“Because [OnlyFans] have a certain amount of leniency, it also suggests that they are not willing to completely alienate their creators – even people who may do things illegally at worst, inappropriately at best – by immediately deplatforming them.”
Read more at BBC News here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or contact via secure email at the address lucasnolan@protonmail.com