Well, that was fast.
Less than one week after announcing a ban on sexually explicit content, OnlyFans has fully reversed course and said there’s no ban after all.
The U.K.-based subscription site claimed it had initiated the ban in response to changing online banking policies at partners who process payments on the site.
Now, it seems, they’ve come to a new arrangement with those banks, announcing Wednesday that it “secured assurances necessary to support our diverse creator community.” For the purposes of this statement, “diverse creator community” is their way of saying “adult film performers.”
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“Thank you to everyone for making your voices heard,” the statement reads. We have secured assurances necessary to support our diverse creator community and have suspended the planned October 1 policy change,” the company tweeted.
Related: OnlyFans incurs the wrath of Gay Twitter™ after announcing ban on sexually explicit content
“OnlyFans stands for inclusion and we will continue to provide a home for all creators,” it added.
Thank you to everyone for making your voices heard.
We have secured assurances necessary to support our diverse creator community and have suspended the planned October 1 policy change.
OnlyFans stands for inclusion and we will continue to provide a home for all creators.
— OnlyFans (@OnlyFans) August 25, 2021
In an article published just yesterday, OnlyFans founder and CEO Tim Stokely claimed banks like JP Morgan Chase, Bank of New York Mellon and the U.K.’s Metro Bank had made it impossible for the site to pay its content creators.
By taking the issue public last week, it’s likely Stokely was using the expected public backlash as a negotiating tactic to pressure the banks into reconsidering. It would appear that this plan worked.
Launched in 2016, OnlyFans is best-known for hosting sexually explicit, homemade adult content. Subscribers pay a monthly fee to follow their favorite creators, and the site takes a 20% cut.
The site’s popularity grew during the pandemic, and it says it has 130 million users. It handled $2billion in sales last year, according to Bloomberg.
We hope you’re ready for your Instagram and Twitter feeds to be filled with a whole new batch of memes:
OnlyFans said pic.twitter.com/fPsJ1eAaRE
— ? (@heyjaeee) August 25, 2021
onlyfans PR team this morning pic.twitter.com/veSnunKNZW
— RK Jackson | Atlanta ? (@theerkj) August 25, 2021
Onlyfans this morning pic.twitter.com/6qT8v9lXJT
— RA IMAGE (@RAIMAGE) August 25, 2021
ONLYFANs calling Pornstars & Sex Workers today when Only Fans saw their Bank account overdrawn pic.twitter.com/ATjU6FI7hy
— Daniel Newma? (@DanielNewman) August 25, 2021
Chrisk
I’m surprised it even took this long for their reversal.
WSnyder
I think the Ghosts of Tumblr Past, Present and OF Future visited them last night.
sfhairy
Haha, @Wsnyder perfect!
wikidBSTN
I wish EBAY would do the same.
ShiningSex
They who makes them money.
That said, OnlyFans is boring. It’s like go to a strip club. If you want to see more, pay up more than subscription. ZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!! Cheaper to just to go to the sites where they work and pay them a monthly rate.
gregg2010
It’s all about the money they would lose if the site restricted it’s porn content. Duh.
Bengali
I don’t care why they lifted the ban and I don’t blame Only Fans (much). Clearly they were concerned about their banking partners and their at times refusal to allow payments to be processed for “explicit” creators. But they indeed must have reviewed the financial loss they would suffer which would mean layoffs, salary reductions and loss of stability as OnlyFans creators went elsewhere. Only Fans not the only game in town. I don’t watch porn so I don’t care one way or another but I believe sex workers like other workers should follow their dreams and goals. No one forces someone to watch Only Fans’ videos. Watching Matt Gaetz or Marjorie Nutjob speak is so much more offensive.
Kangol2
Good on this reversal. I hope Queerty also writes about how right-wing “Christian” politicians are actively going after platforms like Onlyfans and JustforFans, under the “pretext” of attacking child sexual trafficking. The FOSTA-SESTA (FOSTA (Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act) and SESTA (Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act) bills, signed in 2018 under Don the Con and his far-right controlled Congress, are two of the laws they are using to try to shut down not just online sex work but porn in general. These laws and the Q-onservatives behind them have put extensive pressure not only on the platforms but also on the banks and credit card companies. Child sex trafficking is absolutely horrific, but conflating it with all adult sex work, and online sex between consenting adults that might not be for pay, is their current tactic. Meanwhile, they are silent about the alleged sex traffickers like Matt Gaetz and alleged child rapists like Denny Hastert in their midst.
jsmu
FOSTA/SESTA is pure theofascist censorship. Period. Has nothing to do with their nauseating LIES about ‘but the chilllllllldrennnnnnnnnn’!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thad
But Xtube is still closing. If you haven’t used them before, it’s too late. They are taking no new registrations, and their more interesting content requires registration.
dhmonarch89
Porn stars fleeing to Justforfans was what made this happen- their stock/subscriptions probably plummeted!
missvamp
fetlife has had similar issues for years with their credit card servers after the fosta/sosta bs.