OnlyFans shocked the world today by announcing it would stop producing sexually explicit videos, and photos. OnlyFans will ban porn starting October 1. The decision was made during a BBC investigation into whether the video sharing site allowed creators to be dismissed despite publishing illegal content online.
The company recommends that moderators first issue three warnings explaining why each piece has been removed, rather than banning accounts or sounding alarms. The BBC states that accounts with higher subscriptions can receive additional warnings if rules are broken, unless they are a highly successful creator.
Oh, and who are the most successful site creators? According to BBC, they are managed by a different team.
It was believed that more important users were tolerated longer
OnlyFans stated to BBC that the leaked compliance manuals were not official guidance. However, the BBC quickly pointed out that one of the documents has the chief operating officer of the company listed as having made edits to it.
The BBC's investigation does not end there. It also looked at videos about exploiting homeless persons, scoured the site looking for illegal content, spoke with moderators of OnlyFans, quoted a US Homeland Security agent regarding how many child abuse images are there, and tested to determine if OnlyFans would notice it setting up accounts advertising itself as young teens selling photos. (OnlyFans did not notice it until the BBC pointed out.
The full story can be found here. It's shocking, so it shouldn't be surprising that OnlyFans abrupt shift to safe-for work imagery may have been due to the intense scrutiny the company was facing. It is also noteworthy that OnlyFans just released its first transparency report. While it claims they invest heavily in combating child sexual exploitation online, the report contains very few details and was only for July 2021. It contributed a single CSAM hash in July to the National Center for Missing and Exposed Childrens database and deactivated a total of 15 accounts for alleged CSAM activities.
Onlyfans did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
