23 Reactions To OnlyFans’ Decision To Ban Sexually Explicit Content

@MemesCentral, @eddyburback/Twitter

August 20, 2021, 7:40 am

OnlyFans announced on Thursday that it would ban sexually explicit content from its site starting in October.

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The creator-driven site built its platform on the backs of sex workers, who have used the site as a place to safely sell content to and interact with paying subscribers. But its growing popularity attracted a slew of people wanting to sell other types of content, including big name celebrities looking for something to do during the pandemic.

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And now it appears that OnlyFans is going to capitalize on that new exposure to try to draw in venture capitalists who haven’t been interested in the site while its had such a strong connection to sex work, while also looking to comply with new and exhaustive rules MasterCard is implementing later this year.

Creators on the site have been warning that this would happen ever since Bella Thorne launched her own page on the site last August. Her activity on the site, while lucrative for both her and OF, quickly resulted in policy changes that left people worried this was the start of the end for sex workers who actually need the site to make a living safely.

And now that’s where we are. While OnlyFans has promised that they aren’t banning nudity as long as the content isn’t sexually explicit, theoretically allowing some sex workers to continue making some money off the site, that caveat already sounds uncomfortably open to interpretation. 

Many people stand to lose their income from the change, and a lot of folks aren’t thrilled with the way the company is shunning those who made it what it is. Some are dealing with it through criticisms, some through humor, but everyone is blasting OF pretty hard on Twitter and it’s easy to see why.

remember when ppl were like “no, no, no celebs normalizing onlyfans is a good thing!” and sex workers were like lol no, celebs taking over and not offering adult content will result in turning this site into something it’s not/something not sex worker friendly. WELP.

— irene (@lanadelslayee) August 19, 2021

onlyfans is just another example of how these large platforms use sex workers to build their audience then pull support once they no longer deem them beneficial.

— meowri (@JennaLynnMeowri) August 19, 2021

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the new OnlyFans model is genius because it’s like YouTube but you have to pay for it and people love paying for things they already have

— Eddy Burback (@eddyburback) August 19, 2021

yes, the onlyfans change is fucking terrifying, but at least the new rules are intentionally vague in a way that will leave sex workers constantly terrified that they’re about to lose a huge chunk of income for doing something they didn’t know wasn’t allowed!!!

— Avery Edison (@aedison) August 19, 2021

As Only Fans decides to kick the core base it built itself around to the curb, I’d like to remind them that Tumblr was purchased by Yahoo for $1.1 billion in 2013, and, following it’s ban of adult content, was sold in 2019 by parent company Verizon for $3 million dollars.

— Kaipo (@Kaipo_Rozwolf) August 19, 2021

if onlyfans doesn’t let me sell porn anymore then you can only blame them when i start a podcast

— pesky’s pole dancer (@doinkpatrol) August 19, 2021

OnlyFans is banning sexual content to help with the delta variant, as now all those nurses will return to the hospitals

— thomas the divorced trader (@tumtonks) August 19, 2021

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Sex work is a realer job than landlording.

— Joshua (@Co_Op_Trucker) August 20, 2021

In solidarity with OnlyFans Drag Race will be banning drag.

— Black Lives Still Matter (@thatonequeen) August 20, 2021

visa & mastercard buckling to evangelical psychos & successfully pressuring onlyfans to limit the sex work on their platforms is awful but expected. caving to that demand when sex work built your platform is a betrayal. everyone loves sex work but dehuminazes the ppl who make it

— hasanabi (@hasanthehun) August 20, 2021

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Wait.. So Onlyfans is allegedly getting rid of sex workers so investors can have a ‘safe investment’ in a website that nobody will use anymore.

Huh.

— Ross O’Donovan (@RubberNinja) August 20, 2021

This is something that’s going to affect everything from freedom of speech and expression, to the right to privacy and protection. The Facebook ‘metaverse’ already shows us what the next stage of the game is in terms of consolidation and what the tech industry actually envisions

— HK (@HKesvani) August 20, 2021

Overheard:

Only Fans to ban sexually explicit videos.

In other news, McDonald’s will stop selling burgers and fries and will only serve salads.

— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) August 20, 2021

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no more porn on onlyfans *dusts off tap shoes* my time to shine baby

— McErin (@colleen_eileen) August 20, 2021

The effect that this OnlyFans ban could have on so many people for whom the platform has been their only way to pay rent over the pandemic is disturbingly absent from news coverage today.

— Sophia Smith Galer (@sophiasgaler) August 20, 2021

Investors be like “Hello Onlyfans I would like to make less money”.

— Countatollah Al Dankhulla߷ (@CountDankulaTV) August 20, 2021

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in solidarity with OnlyFans, our show will no longer feature the song ‘9 to 5’

— 9 to 5 the Musical (@9to5MusicalUK) August 20, 2021

OnlyFans thing is good joke fodder on surface for most, but behind it please know there are so many people struggling to survive who’ll have their primary means of earning suddenly ended to please bankers who confuse sex workers with traffickers. Criminalizing innocent people.

— raf (@rafaelshimunov) August 20, 2021

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*First Published: August 20, 2021, 7:40 am