OnlyFans is banning sexually explicit content (???)

[Free]

 

[Aribeth Zelin]

So, Tumblr kicked porn to the curb. Pornhub booted like 95% of it's content as 'unverified' (and what's left seems to be more underage content than ever). Now OnlyFans is bending over backwards.

And in each case it seems to come down to "... mounting pressures from banking partners and payment providers ..."

Does it strike anyone else as fucking beyond ironic that the companies flagrantly wallowing in the biblical MORTAL SIN of USURY have effectively crowned themselves the arbiters of morality on the internet?

I mean seriously, money lending with interest used to be considered on par with murder and adultery.

It goes back further than Tumblr...

ModTheSims when it was modthesims2 had to not only split off any adult mods, but also ART items that were deemed inappropriate by Paypal. So, no joke, Michelangelo's David was relegated to SexySims2 because it was deemed too adult for them to allow site subs and such.

 

[Caete]

 

[Fionalein]

too late, the damage is already done

 

[Caete]

So, Tumblr kicked porn to the curb. Pornhub booted like 95% of it's content as 'unverified' (and what's left seems to be more underage content than ever). Now OnlyFans is bending over backwards.

And in each case it seems to come down to "... mounting pressures from banking partners and payment providers ..."

Does it strike anyone else as fucking beyond ironic that the companies flagrantly wallowing in the biblical MORTAL SIN of USURY have effectively crowned themselves the arbiters of morality on the internet?

I mean seriously, money lending with interest used to be considered on par with murder and adultery.

Not sure what Tumblr you visit but porn never left it. It was trimmed, mostly drawing/fan art stuff vanished, which imo, was a welcome pruning. I'm not against that style of eroticism but most of it on Tumblr was copyrighted characters and a large portion of that was based on underage characters.

 

[Fionalein]

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.

Note their choice of words, the ban didn't get cancelled, it just got suspended. I read that as "We might still introduce it soon".

 

[Noodles]

Not sure what Tumblr you visit but porn never left it. It was trimmed, mostly drawing/fan art stuff vanished, which imo, was a welcome pruning. I'm not against that style of eroticism but most of it on Tumblr was copyrighted characters and a large portion of that was based on underage characters.

Look, just because she LOOKS like she is a 5 year old doesn't mean she isn't actully a 10,000 year old alien dragon goddess in disguise.

(/s or whatever)

 

[GoblinCampFollower]

too late, the damage is already done

Indeed. Tons of the models have already explored other options and don't trust the platform anymore. The customers will follow the hot models, not Only Fans. This is comparable to when Schlitz shot their foot off by changing their beer recipe. This caused the customers to figure out they had alternative options and Schlitz never recovered.

 

[Jopsy Pendragon]

Not sure what Tumblr you visit but porn never left it. It was trimmed, mostly drawing/fan art stuff vanished, which imo, was a welcome pruning. I'm not against that style of eroticism but most of it on Tumblr was copyrighted characters and a large portion of that was based on underage characters.

What's left is flying under the radar, known to be at risk of vanishing as soon as it gets noticed. The established artists I was following are all gone, off in different directions, some now hidden behind paywalls on patreon (which I'm sure will be next to announce NO PORN! Followed by Steam/Valve).

Also, I omitted the Apple Store as one of the 'oo, too scared to have anything that's not 'Disney Safe' on our site due to payment issues!' victims. GooglePlay, afaik, hasn't gone quite that far but it's clear that they're leaning in that direction.

 

[Essence Lumin]

OnlyFans scraps plans to ban sexually explicit material

U-turn comes after resolution of issues with payment processors, says chief executive of user-generated adult content site

www.theguardian.com

 

[Innula Zenovka]

too late, the damage is already done

Too late for what or for whom? Of course the sex workers using the site have been given a strong reminder about the problems of selling self-produced porn online, but they already knew all too well how uncomfortable the big banks are about accounts associated with sex work.

Doubtless they'll be looking for other sites where they can sell their content, in case this happens again, but the problem lies with the banks rather than anyone else, or so it seems to me.

OnlyFans were faced with demands from the big banks that they thought they couldn't meet and would put them out of business, so they demonstrated this in the most public way they could, by offering the prove that the banks' demands were impossible by attempting to comply with them and let the world watch as a popular and successful business collapsed under the weight of pressure from the banks.

The banks realised they weren't joking when they said "this will put us out of business" and backed down.

 

[Free]

Too late for what or for whom?

For their rep. Would you maintain your business interests with them when they've already signaled - LOUDLY - they'd prefer not to be doing business with you?

A large percentage of OnlyFans users were already seeking out alternatives. I doubt they'll stop their efforts just because they've gotten a postponement on the ban.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

For their rep. Would you maintain your business interests with them when they've already signaled - LOUDLY - they'd prefer not to be doing business with you?

A large percentage of OnlyFans users were already seeking out alternatives. I doubt they'll stop their efforts just because they've gotten a postponement on the ban.

I don't see it that way -- how on earth could anyone think that OnlyFans wanted to walk away from porn -- what would they gain by so doing?

They'd be left trying to make money from their non--porn artists, who have to pay them 20% of what fans pay them, while they don't have to pay anything from tips they receive from fans on Instagram and Twitter.

As the FT's LEX column puts it:

Without porn, OnlyFans would no longer stand out and its business model would unravel. The company takes a 20 per cent cut from payments made by fans. Instagram and Twitter exact no such commissions from tips sent to creators on their sites. Creators of mainstream content would quit OnlyFans once the audience lured there by adult content dispersed. The business needs porn more than it needs banks with strict ESG compliance.

Evernote link

 

[Free]

I don't see it that way -- how on earth could anyone think that OnlyFans wanted to walk away from porn

They were about to. That might lead some people to think they still will. Or at least do what they can to ghettoize it on the service.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

They were about to. That might lead some people to think they still will. Or at least do what they can to ghettoize it on the service.

They said they were ditching porn because the banks were refusing to process payments. They say that the banks have now reconsidered, so they can continue with their existing, and very lucrative, business model.

That seems to me a perfectly sufficient explanation of the last week or so's events. Leonid Radvinsky, who owns 75% of the company, isn't divesting himself of the rest of his porn sites, and I can't see any earthly reason why the company would voluntarily walk away from porn and thus trash its entire business model.

 

[Fionalein]

They said they were ditching porn ...

FIFY

Everyhing else is cosmetics. Users (both creators and consumers) don't care for the reasons.

 

[Imnotgoing Sideways]

Look, just because she LOOKS like she is a 5 year old doesn't mean she isn't actully a 10,000 year old alien dragon goddess in disguise.

(/s or whatever)

Whaaaaat!? According to the Wiki she looks 9. ()

 

[Free]

They said they were ditching porn because the banks were refusing to process payments. They say that the banks have now reconsidered, so they can continue with their existing, and very lucrative, business model.

How can you accept the company's claims at face value, while placing our points on why an OnlyFans user might choose not to continue business with them under constant analysis?

The BBC investigation showed how OnlyFans OFFICIALLY handles illegal, underage content. And it's not 1 strike and you're out forever. Considering what Pornhub went through last year, doesn't it seem a more likely cause (an attempt to deal with illegal content) than simply banks refusing to process cc's because pr0n?

So why would OnlyFans try to drop everything explicit rather than shore up policies on illegal content? Maybe they panicked. I'm not them, so I really don't know. But what I do know is how I might react to a company that makes money off my efforts, but clearly shows they'd gladly cut me loose at the first sign of trouble.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

How can you accept the company's claims at face value, while placing our points on why an OnlyFans user might choose not to continue business with them under constant analysis?

The BBC investigation showed how OnlyFans OFFICIALLY handles illegal, underage content. And it's not 1 strike and you're out forever. Considering what Pornhub went through last year, doesn't it seem a more likely cause (an attempt to deal with illegal content) than simply banks refusing to process cc's because pr0n?

So why would OnlyFans try to drop everything explicit rather than shore up policies on illegal content? Maybe they panicked. I'm not them, so I really don't know. But what I do know is how I might react to a company that makes money off my efforts, but clearly shows they'd gladly cut me loose at the first sign of trouble.

I'm not accepting anything at face value.

Consider the following facts: OnlyFans charges performers a 20% commission on all payments sent through the site, while Instagram and similar sites don't.

If I'm a performer on OnlyFans who produces non-porn material that I could equally well upload to Instagram, why am I choosing to use a vehicle that charges me 20% on my takings when I could upload it somewhere that charges me nothing?

The only reason I can think of is that I hope to benefit from the huge audience drawn to OnlyFans because of the sexual material available there, in the hope that some members of this audience will also be interested in whatever it is that I do, despite the fact I keep my clothes on while I'm doing it.

If that huge audience is no longer there, why should I bother with OnlyFans at all?

What business advantage would there be to OnlyFans -- owned, remember, by one of the main players in online porn -- in walking away from its main income source and, in the process, losing the audience share that attracts more conventional performers despite the high fees?

The only reconstruction of events that makes sense to me is that the banks told OnlyFans to make changes to its content moderation policies that OnlyFans said it couldn't implement, or not in the time available.

The banks said, tough, either make the changes by the end of September, or we're no longer doing business with you. OnlyFans said that would put them out of business, but nevertheless they'd try, and make sure that the banks got the blame when it didn't work, and they were seen to have put a successful and popular customer out of business simply because they didn't like the sexually explicit material it carried.

The banks blinked first.

Unless someone can explain to me the business logic of a site that's primarily porn getting rid of its porn content, I can't see any other explanation that makes sense.

ETA: At least according to the interview the company's founder, Tim Stokely, give to the FT earlier in the week, the problem wasn't the payment processors not wanting to handle payments to OnlyFans but particular named banks not wanting to handle payments from OnlyFans to the performers.

 

[Free]

I'm not accepting anything at face value.

Well...

They said they were ditching porn because the banks were refusing to process payments. They say that the banks have now reconsidered, so they can continue with their existing, and very lucrative, business model.

That seems to me a perfectly sufficient explanation of the last week or so's events.

That sure read like you did. But OK.

Consider the following facts: OnlyFans charges performers a 20% commission on all payments sent through the site, while Instagram and similar sites don't.

If I'm a performer on OnlyFans who produces non-porn material that I could equally well upload to Instagram, why am I choosing to use a vehicle that charges me 20% on my takings when I could upload it somewhere that charges me nothing?

Because you don't make money on Instagram through something as simple as having people subscribe to your page.

You want to make money off Instagram? Then you're going to have to go to work enticing brands with products you think make sense to advertise and provide content for to be willing to sponsor you, or become an affiliate and generate branded marketing along with your content, etc. This is a lot of extra work that most people don't know how to accomplish well if at all, let alone being able to handle to the point of making a decent wage from it.

Also, despite your "non-porn material" creator scenario, we were talking about people who create and maintain explicit sexual content, and we know that ain't a thing on Instagram.

The only reason I can think of is that I hope to benefit from the huge audience drawn to OnlyFans because of the sexual material available there, in the hope that some members of this audience will also be interested in whatever it is that I do, despite the fact I keep my clothes on while I'm doing it.

Since the ban was not focused on these more than likely few if any fully clothed creators of content you've visualized, but rather those who produce the exact opposite, this is all coming off as very straw man.

Anyway, the rest of your post is a triage I can't give the time to break down. Let's just agree to disagree on how convincing the people in charge at OnlyFans are as to their reasoning behind the ban. But whatever the reason, it led to them deciding to ban what is likely the largest revenue stream for the company. And to quote you:

What business advantage would there be to OnlyFans -- owned, remember, by one of the main players in online porn walking away from its main income source and, in the process, losing the audience share that attracts more conventional performers

I probably would have worked harder with the banks to resolve whatever roadblocks they were concerned about, rather than dropping a group of people who brought in the most money for me. But then maybe I can't think like a company owned by one of the main players in online porn.