Skip to main content

New top story from Time: Why OnlyFans Suddenly Reversed its Decision to Ban Sexual Content

https://ift.tt/38d6uFr

OnlyFans, the subscriber-based social media platform, sparked outrage last week when it announced it would ban “sexually explicit” content on Oct. 1. The platform, where sex workers, influencers, and celebrities charge subscribers for access to photos and videos, attributed the decision to pressure from banks and payment processors.

Yet, within a matter of days the company backtracked. The planned October policy change had been “suspended,” tweeted the company, following “assurances” from banks that adult content would not be penalized.

Sex sells

Founded in 2016, OnlyFans has attracted 130 million registered users and over 2 million creators. OnlyFans’ popularity took off during the pandemic, as the site’s user base rose from less than 20 million and transactions increased seven-fold to $2.36 billion.
[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]

The platform lets content creators sell photos, videos, and messages directly to users—anything from personalized songs to fitness workouts. High profile names, such as Bella Thorne and Cardi B, have recognized the site’s potential to market and sell exclusive content to fans.

While the service was not originally designed for adult content, the user-friendly interface and subscriber model has made it an attractive destination for sex workers. Creators keep 80% of their revenue, while OnlyFans takes a 20% cut.

The company has recently tried to distance itself from its porn-friendly reputation. On Aug. 17, it announced the launch of OFTV, a streaming platform and app which excludes sexually explicit content. OFTV can be distributed across operating systems which do not permit porn, such as iOS and Android.

Nonetheless, OnlyFans’ announcement on Aug. 19 that it would ban sexually explicit content on its main platform came as a shock to sex workers who depend on the service for income. Despite the company’s U-turn 6 days later, some creators vowed never to return.

“The short answer is banks”

So why did OnlyFans (briefly) decide to ban the kind of content which had come to characterize its platform? “The short answer is banks,” said Tim Stokely, the site’s British founder and chief executive.

Banks, he claimed, are refusing to process payments associated with adult content. In an interview with the FT, Stokely singled out BNY Mellon, Metro Bank, and JPMorgan Chase for blocking intermediary payments, preventing sex workers from receiving their earnings, and penalizing businesses which support sex workers. He declined to reveal OnlyFans’ current banking partners.

This follows similar behavior by payment service providers which have begun to dissociate from the porn industry. After a New York Times investigation found images of rape and child sex abuse on Pornhub, Mastercard and Visa prohibited the use of their cards on the site in Dec. 2020.

In response, Pornhub removed all content produced by unverified partners and implemented a verification program for users. In April this year, Mastercard announced tighter control on transactions of adult content to clamp down on illegal material. The requirements included that platforms verify ages and identities of their users.

Visa and Mastercard credit cards
Artur Widak—NurPhoto/Getty ImagesMastercard and Visa prohibited the use of their cards on Pornhub in Dec. 2020. after allegations the site featured images of rape and child sex abuse.

Mastercard’s new controls will become effective Oct. 15—and many saw OnlyFans’ actions, which would come into effect on Oct. 1, as a preemptive measure. “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 [from Oct. 1],” OnlyFans said.

This followed OnlyFans’ decision to publish its first ever “transparency reportin July 2021. It showed the company received 783 requests for information from law enforcement agencies between June 2020 and July 2021.

Despite OnlyFans’ attempts to avoid a similar fate to PornHub, the company is reportedly struggling to raise money from outside investors at a valuation of more than $1 billion. According to internal documents seen by Axios, venture capitalists are wary of investing in a company so heavily associated with the porn industry.

The big U-turn

After provoking confusion and frustration among its adult content creator community, OnlyFans announced on Aug. 25 it was suspending the ban on sexually explicit content.

The company tweeted that it had “secured assurances necessary to support our diverse creator community.” The decision came a day after the CEO attributed the porn ban to banks which would “cite reputation risk and refuse our business.” OnlyFans executives told the FT that Stokely’s comments had sparked open discussion between banks and the company.

While OnlyFans creators may continue to sell sexually explicit content to users on the platform, the company’s actions have infuriated many sex workers who said they lost subscribers after the announcement. Despite OnlyFans assurances, many sex workers felt the company had betrayed its core creator base and vowed not to return to the platform.

If anything, the events of the past week have emphasized the influence of banks and payment service providers over social media and content creation services online. While Pornhub now depends on bank transfers and cryptocurrency, OnlyFans will continue to process credit card payments for sexually explicit content—at least for now.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Bihar: Stages collapse during Congress rallies in Darbhanga, West Champaran https://ift.tt/37QFnks

The stage on which Congress candidate from Jale assembly seat, Mashkoor Ahmad Usman was addressing a rally broke and collapsed in Bihar's Darbhanga on Thursday. In a similar incident, another stage collapsed and took down party leaders Imran Pratapgarhi and Akhilesh Singh along with several party workers who were on the dias, during a Congress rally at Bagahi Deoraj in Champaran.

New Dashboards Give a Window into Muni Service Changes

New Dashboards Give a Window into Muni Service Changes By Kate McCarthy An inspector manages Muni service. New dashboards that help inform changes to Muni service are now live at SFMTA.com/MuniData Many factors inform our decisions about Muni service adjustments. These include making sure changes to service support the SFMTA’s values, which are economic vitality, environmental stewardship, trust and equity. We also evaluate travel patterns. You can now explore these patterns using the new Muni data dashboards  (SFMTA.com/MuniData). When looking at possible Muni service changes, the first thing we do is turn to the Muni Service Equity Strategy for guidance. Using the Muni Service Equity Strategy, we prioritize providing Muni service along routes that more often serve people of color, members of low-income households, and/or those who are dependent upon transit service, including people with disabilities and seniors. We also use ridership data to analyze where riders are boa...

India reports first 6 cases of new coronavirus strain after UK returnees test positive https://ift.tt/3pA0T2j

India on Tuesday reported the first six cases of the new coronavirus strain after six people who had returned from the United Kingdom were tested positive for the new UK variant genome. According to the details, the new coronavirus strain cases were reported from Hyderabad, Pune and Bangalore. Samples of 3 UK returnees were tested and found positive for the new UK strain in NIMHANS, Bengaluru. The other two cases were tested at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad; while the last case was tested at the National Institute of Virology, Pune.

FOX NEWS: Ohio amusement park shut down after multiple fights break out Kings Island in Mason, around 20 miles north of Cincinnati, closed down 30 minutes early Saturday night after several fights among teenagers occurred, reports suggest.

Ohio amusement park shut down after multiple fights break out Kings Island in Mason, around 20 miles north of Cincinnati, closed down 30 minutes early Saturday night after several fights among teenagers occurred, reports suggest. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/3wsn8uI

PM Modi lauds IFS officers for their work towards serving nation, furthering national interests https://ift.tt/36HoEzw

Greeting Indian Foreign Service officers on IFS day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that their work towards serving the nation and furthering national interests globally are commendable. Their efforts during the Vande Bharat Mission, which was launched to bring Indians home from abroad during the COVID-19 pandemic as international travel came to a halt, and other related help to our citizens and other nations is noteworthy, Modi added.

FOX NEWS: Bride's father asks stepdad to help walk her down the aisle in sweet viral moment A selfless gesture by the father of a bride was shared on social media in a viral moment of him surprising the girl’s stepfather by asking him to help walk her to the altar.

Bride's father asks stepdad to help walk her down the aisle in sweet viral moment A selfless gesture by the father of a bride was shared on social media in a viral moment of him surprising the girl’s stepfather by asking him to help walk her to the altar. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/ZkQ1Rpt

Better Connections from Bayview and Hunters Point to Downtown

Better Connections from Bayview and Hunters Point to Downtown By Enrique Aguilar To better connect southeast San Franciscans with downtown, the SFMTA debuted the 15 Bayview Hunters-Point Express in late January, coinciding with the return of T Third train service. Within weeks, average daily boardings reached 1,000 customers on this new service. The 15 Bayview Hunters Point Express  We added this route based on community feedback from the Southeast Muni Expansion Project in 2018, which prioritized a more direct trip to downtown from the Bayview. With the sudden rise of the COVID-19 pandemic and its disproportionate impacts on communities in the Bayview and Hunters Point, fast-tracking the project became critical to our transit planning. Adding service capacity and a direct connection between these neighborhoods and downtown is a crucial step in supporting the City’s economic recovery and increasing job access for essential workers using transit. Using data from the SFMTA Equ...

Plan Your Next Golden Gate Park Trip with Muni

Plan Your Next Golden Gate Park Trip with Muni By Eillie Anzilotti   A map of San Francisco showing Muni lines that offer direct service to Golden Gate Park, including: The 18 46th Avenue, the 29 Sunset, the 5 Fulton and 5R Fulton Rapid, the N Judah, the 44 O’Shaughnessy, the 33 Ashbury/18th Street, the 7 Haight/Noriega, the 43 Masonic and the 28 19th Avenue. Around each bus route shown on the map, a red zone shows the range within 1,000 feet of a stop, orange shows within 2,000 feet of a stop, and yellow shows within 3,000 feet. Here’s a fun fact: 70% of San Franciscans are within a 15-minute walk of a transfer-free Muni ride to the largest public space in our city: Golden Gate Park.   Especially as COVID-19 has heightened the importance of outdoor recreation and park access, SFMTA has made efforts to update Muni service to get people to Golden Gate Park. As of now, ...

New top story from Time: ‘I Should Be Presumed Innocent.’ Hong Kong Media Tycoon Jimmy Lai Criticizes His Arrest

https://ift.tt/342b8VJ Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai said he was arrested on “trumped up” charges, pushing back against landmark national security legislation that has raised questions about press freedoms and the future of the democracy movement. “They’re trumped up. I can’t go further on the details,” Lai said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Friday morning. “Before any evidence, they just claimed and presumed that I’m guilty. This isn’t the way the law is. I should be presumed innocent. We have never supported the independence of Hong Kong.” He said Hong Kong’s future as Asia’s main financial hub was uncertain if there was no respect for the rule of law under the new security measures. “The future of Hong Kong is the future of any other Chinese city,” he added. “Without the rule of law, the international financial center will be finished.” He added that the law sent a “very negative” message to the business community in Hong Kong and overseas. Lai has ...

अगर मैंने आत्महत्या की तो लोगों को पता होना चाहिए किसकी वजह से की - फूटकर रोते दिखे विकास गुप्ता

सुशांत सिंह राजपूत की आत्महत्या हर किसी को एक गहरा सदमा दे गई है और अब सुशांत के करीबी दोस्त विकास गुप्ता ने एक वीडियो में अपनी आपबीती सुनाई है। विकास इस वीडियो में बेहद टूटे हुए नज़र आ रहे हैं from टेलीविजन की खबरें | Television News in Hindi | TV Serials Update in Hindi – FilmiBeat Hindi http:/hindi.filmibeat.com/television/vikas-gupta-reveals-people-want-him-to-commit-suicide-cries-his-heart-out-for-sushant-singh-rajput-090284.html?utm_source=/rss/filmibeat-hindi-television-fb.xml&utm_medium=23.213.205.12&utm_campaign=client-rss