Popular adult content platform OnlyFans has announced that it will ban sexually explicit content on its site from October this year.

The UK-based company said that users will still be able to post nude photos and videos, so long as they are in line with its updated terms of service.

However, it has not yet released the updated guidelines, saying it will share more details in the coming days. As such, it has not defined the line between nudity and sexually explicit content.

The move comes after a BBC investigation that claimed the site’s moderators showed tolerance to illegal content, and were directed to be more lenient to successful accounts, citing leaked documents.

This also comes after claims that OnlyFans failed to prevent underage creators from making and selling content on the site. According to the investigation, this means that the illegal content was not automatically removed.

In addition, the site was also being used to offer prostitution services.

OnlyFans has defended itself, saying that the leaked documents cited by the investigation are not official guidance for moderators.

“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,” the group said.

“OnlyFans remains committed to the highest levels of safety and content moderation of any social platform. All creators are verified prior to being able to upload any content to OnlyFans, and all uploaded content is checked by automated systems and human moderators.”

The Money Factor

However, the site has also pointed to pressure from banking partners as being behind the move. “These changes are to comply with the requests of our banking providers and payout providers,” a company statement reads.

OnlyFans currently has around 130 million paying subscribers. In addition to paying monthly fees, users can tip their preferred creators. OnlyFans then takes a 20% share of all revenue.

With over two million content creators on its platform, around 300 have used OnlyFans to become millionaires, according to company data from March. An additional 16,000 earn around $50,000 per year.

The company claims to have paid out $3 billion since it was founded in 2016.

It is now looking to expand its business model away from pornography. While most of its content, and its reputation, is built on sex and nudity, it does currently host a variety of content, including cooking and fitness videos.

In June this year, OnlyFans entered talks to raise funding for the company, which has a valuation of $1 billion. However, despite expecting to make $1.2 billion this year (in part buoyed by the coronavirus pandemic), the company has reportedly been struggling to attract investors.

The move will make it more popular for investors, who are generally wary of the stigma associated with the pornography industry. Some venture capital firms are even forbidden from investing in adult content.

However, the move has drawn criticism from some, who have accused OnlyFans of abandoning the creators who have built its audience to chase fresh investment.

By giving sex workers the boot, OnlyFans becomes more attractive (theoretically) to investors, who don’t want to be caught up in the stigma of the porn industry. But the move bites the hand that fed OF. Without sex workers, the site would never have gone anywhere. (14/18)

— Chris Morris (@MorrisatLarge) August 19, 2021

This Sounds Familiar…

OnlyFans decision has drawn comparisons to a similar adult content ban enforced by Tumblr back in late 2018. Tumblr was a popular and influential social media site across much of the early and mid-2010s.

It was known for hosting conversations between fans of popular media, such as Sherlock and Supernatural, and it was also popular because it allowed adult and sexual content to be posted on its platform.

The ban was announced just days after Apple removed the Tumblr app from its iOS App Store. It also came in the months after Tumblr was purchased by network operator Verizon for $1.1 billion.

The ban led to protests among the site’s userbase, many of which used it to produce LGBTQ+ content.

While the platform contained pornography, much of the adult content was created by marginalised groups to explore their sexuality and create educational material for others.

The end result of the ban was an exodus of the site’s users. Ultimately, Verizon sold Tumblr to WordPress-owner Automattic Inc. for a reported $3 million in 2019.

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In late 2020, popular porn-hosting website performed a major cull of its platform over a row over illegal content. This saw it remove around over 10 million of the 13.5 million videos it offered at the time.

The move came after a similar investigation, then from the New York Times, which found content featuring non-consensual acts and underage performers.

The move also coincided with major financial service providers Mastercard, Visa and Discover blocking payments to the website.

Pornhub defended itself by noting that the new rules it put in place were more stringent than other social media groups. It also pointed out that the 118 incidents of child sexual abuse material reported on its platform pales in comparison to the 84 million self-reported on Facebook.