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OnlyFans porn ban: Has the company doomed itself to failure?
Mounting pressure from banking partners and payment providers has been cited as the main reason behind OnlyFans' ban on sexually explicit content.
Content subscription service OnlyFans recently announced its plan to ban sexually explicit content on its platform, starting October. The platform has been a major source of income for thousands of sex workers but the latest ban is set to hit them as well the company which built its business on the very content. While OnlyFans will allow users to post nude pictures and videos, it should be consistent with the company’s policy, reported Bloomberg.
Mounting pressure from banking partners and payment providers has been cited as the main reason behind the prohibition. OnlyFans said the content guidelines were updated to ensure the long-term sustainability of the platform, while continuing to host an “inclusive community of creators and fans”, according to Bloomberg. In an interview with Financial Times, OnlyFans founder and CEO Tim Stokely said they had no choice.
“Dear Sex Workers, The OnlyFans community would not be what it is today without you. The policy change was necessary to secure banking and payment services to support you. We are working around the clock to come up with solutions. #SexWorkIsWork,” OnlyFans tweeted last week.
The company, which takes a 20 per cent cut from performers' revenues, as well as creators, are now looking at an uncertain future as sexually explicit content helped them flourish. Social media users have been comparing the change in guidelines and its impact with Tumblr, which lost a large chunk of traffic after banned "adult" posts in 2018. According to internet traffic monitor SimilarWeb, Tumblr witnessed an immediate 30% drop in visits after the ban.
In 2013, Yahoo bought Tumblr for a massive $1.1 billion but the US-based social networking site was sold to a new owner for just $3 million following the ban on adult posts.
"Tumblr and OnlyFans hanging out after they both banned porn," read one widely-shared tweet, depicting two side-by-side gravestones.
Since its launch, OnlyFans has paid more than $4.5 billion to content creators, including rapper Cardi B and numerous porn stars, reported news agency AFP. Many porn stars, in separate interviews, have talked about how the platform helped them get out of the exploitative adult film industry. Apart from celebs and porn stars, other social media influencers have been supplementing their income through the platform.
"This is a bold move from OnlyFans, considering the revenue generated by adult content performers," AFP quoted Scarlett Woodford, an analyst at Juniper Research who published a study on the future of digital adult entertainment, as saying.
Financial companies have pressured companies in the past into banning pornographic content.
In 2017, Patreon, another subscription-based website for content creators, announced a similar ban on explicit content under pressure from banks.
"Credit card companies and financial institutions consider adult entertainment to be a high-risk sector," Woodford added.
(With inputs from agencies)
