OnlyFans banning ‘sexually explicit conduct’ starting in October

[YungRiceWang]

I used to work for a media company. The story was published on a news wire service (like Reuters) and each media site rewrote it to fit the house style.

i have no experience but ive read a few versions of the same article being posted by big names (NYT, etc), but none actually give links to actual sources, just saying that is what onlyfans said.

while i am still preparing for the worst (that onlyfans IS banning porn), i do have a hint of skepticism as some of the way the information is breaking out seems fishy.

 

[tokensarentforkids]

if it is fake news it's likely to become real news, with mainstream sources saying the change is due to child porn and prostitution on the site the payment processor beast has certainly been awakened if it wasn't already

 

[AmberCutie]

The story was published on a news wire service (like Reuters) and each media site rewrote it to fit the house style.

I'm wondering how a small-time "journalist" gets their article up there, do you know the process?

It looks like today it was someone who writes for Axios, which isn't completely unknown, but last time it was by some dude who runs his own infoblog and calls himself a journalist.

And it seems both times it's Bloomberg who is the first "big name" to pick it up.

 

[AudriTwo]

Lots of cope in this thread.

every other month a new article comes out to "expose" onlyfans or to say its shutting down because onlyfans is popular and a lot of these "journalist" love adsense. it's not cope, it's us being realistic because a lot of us know a site isn't shutting its doors unless the site says so or bad gateway 502 for days. once again this is more than likely another case of the sky is falling.

remember kiddies do not believe everything you read. always check and verify their sources.

 

[Marceline]

This isn’t the first time something like this has been spread around. Pretty sure a year or so ago there was rumors flying about how OnlyFans was going to turn into a SFW platform before the end of 2020.

And wasn’t there another article that got a lot of traction where the “journalist” was pulling made up nonsense out of his ass about how Leo was about to be arrested and OnlyFans as a company was going to be shutdown due to fraud and all the content creators on the site weren’t going to be paid?

As with anything, don’t believe a single thing until the actual company itself releases an official statement. And no, not “official statements” made through third rate journalists.

 

[Goblin]

I'm wondering how a small-time "journalist" gets their article up there, do you know the process?

It looks like today it was someone who writes for Axios, which isn't completely unknown, but last time it was by some dude who runs his own infoblog and calls himself a journalist.

And it seems both times it's Bloomberg who is the first "big name" to pick it up.

I think you just pay to submit to a site like this https://www.prnewswire.com/ and they distribute it for you

 

[Smoothie]

I used to work for a media company. The story was published on a news wire service (like Reuters) and each media site rewrote it to fit the house style.

Me too, for a couple decades. What you described is not what happened here though. For one, a wire service (Reuters, AP etc) requires credit to be given (for those who pay for the wire service, which is not free) and even if they didn’t require that, a non-amateur media entity would still credit them. For a myriad of reasons (lawsuit protection if the info is wrong, for one… credibility is another reason as most major wire services are more credible than the media that aggregates them… and also, it’s just basic journalism etiquette).

I’ve seen people get fired for not doing that, especially of the info turns out to be false. Some of the sites that ran with this most certainly would have said the info came from a wire service if it was true, and cited them. I know many people think poorly of the media, but the ones who are actually educated, trained and hired by reputable outlets know the consequences of shitty reporting are worse than whatever “clicks” they’re missing out on by waiting for confirmation. Do they still fuck up sometimes? Absolutely, and they might have here… it’s just a weird situation.

It’s also normal for a company to send not-so-popular news to a few outlets (plus whomever takes the time to email them and ask for it) via the same blanket written statement. It keeps the message consistent and allows them to ignore follow-up questioning. It’s also normal for the social media team (and for that matter the customer support team) to not find out about high-level decisions right away, particularly if they don’t begin for a couple months.

What is VERY bizarre to me though, regardless of whether the stories are accurate or false, is the way OnlyFans is handling questions. Why respond directly to a few concerned members when then issue is getting this much publicity? A simple tweet from the official OF account might save them hundreds or thousands of individual responses like the one surfaced on Reddit. From an efficiency standpoint alone, they should at least put that written statement (or a refutation of it) somewhere where people can know it’s from the source.

 

[Delroy]

I'm wondering how a small-time "journalist" gets their article up there, do you know the process?

It looks like today it was someone who writes for Axios, which isn't completely unknown, but last time it was by some dude who runs his own infoblog and calls himself a journalist.

And it seems both times it's Bloomberg who is the first "big name" to pick it up.

I honestly don't know. The company used wire services and also sent stories to it. But all of that was not my department so how it got set up and the relationship isn't something I had any knowledge of at all.

 

[AudriTwo]

while i am still preparing for the worst (that onlyfans IS banning porn), i do have a hint of skepticism as some of the way the information is breaking out seems fishy.

I recommend preparing for the worst-case scenario for any adult site.

Not every site is forever. Even though Onlyfans a current titan, it could close down one day. Just like how chaturbate or streamate could close down. In the almost decade I've been working the industry I've seen big porn/cam sites lose their popularity to other competitors. I've seen popular indie sites shut down their site without any word and with no pay. Models have to know how to adapt and not keep all of their eggs in one basket. This industry is pretty volatile.

 

[YungRiceWang]

OnlyFans: How it handles illegal sex videos - BBC investigation

Announcement came as leaked documents revealed Only Fans had some “tolerance” for accounts that posted illegal content.

www.bbc.com

this is an article from the BBC that came out just a few hours ago. apparently BBC made bunk accounts advertising they were UA and essentially audited OnlyFan's response.

also claims of a lot of illegal things going on during livestreams, such as sex with (please read article).

as a result, OnlyFans (allegedly) will be stopping content.

OnlyFans says that the source that the BBC talked to most likely a let go employee who was not complying.

So, to my understanding, the bbc performed an investigation on OnlyFans, and this tied with processing companies (mastercard, etc) is causing Onlyfans to stop allowing explicit content.

hoping some people read the article and please correct me if im misunderstanding something.

 

[KingMarti]

OnlyFans: How it handles illegal sex videos - BBC investigation

Announcement came as leaked documents revealed Only Fans had some “tolerance” for accounts that posted illegal content.

www.bbc.com

this is an article from the BBC that came out just a few hours ago. apparently BBC made bunk accounts advertising they were UA and essentially audited OnlyFan's response.

also claims of a lot of illegal things going on during livestreams, such as sex with (please read article).

as a result, OnlyFans (allegedly) will be stopping content.

OnlyFans says that the source that the BBC talked to most likely a let go employee who was not complying.

So, to my understanding, the bbc performed an investigation on OnlyFans, and this tied with processing companies (mastercard, etc) is causing Onlyfans to stop allowing explicit content.

hoping some people read the article and please correct me if im misunderstanding something.

BBC has published a lot of fake or poorly researched stories over the last couple of decades, to me this dosnt look much different it's a lot of "I have secrets info that no one else has but you cant see the info, just trust me" they also quote the announcement that never acctually got announced. Parts of it read like they have a training manual that advises cs reps on what to look for when looking for profiles offering escort services which they have never allowed and no other site allows.
It's just BBC bring all "dont forget about us" imo

 

[AmberCutie]

the way OnlyFans is handling questions. Why respond directly to a few concerned members when then issue is getting this much publicity? A simple tweet from the official OF account might save them hundreds or thousands of individual responses like the one surfaced on Reddit

If you notice, all of their publicly viewable posts anywhere are only about SFW content. I think they avoid at all costs acknowledging anything about anything adult.

 

[GraysonDrake]

Echoing what Amber, Marti and Audri have said: these rumors aren't new and there's no substantiated source for them. OnlyFans themselves have denied this. Last time they made TOS changes they notified us months in advance and it was actually pretty annoying.
I also sincerely doubt that they would commit financial suicide by banning adult content as it makes up the overwhelming majority of their earnings by a very wide margin. The brand is also already associated with porn anyway, despite the attempts by their marketing team to try to convince you otherwise. SFW influencers and creators can just go to Patreon anyway so it's not like they offer anything special to set them apart if they straight up ban adult content.

At the same time though, I've also been noticing some of their policies are getting more and more restrictive and puritanical (like banning the word pegging for fuck's sake) and I could totally see them trying to make a slow, frog in the pot shift to more of a softcore site in an attempt to both pander to respectability politics and still cash in on that SW money. It gives me tumblr vibes a bit.

That's not a substantial argument though and until we hear anything from official channels I'm not going to worry too much about it. I am legit worried about posting any pegging content though wtf.

I was honestly already looking at alternative fansites that had better features and less restrictive TOS before any of this happened but I felt pretty stuck with OnlyFans because it's a household name. I think it might not be a bad idea for anyone else in a similar situation who wants to take the focus away from their OF to capitalize on this in order to make a smoother transition to a new platform that sucks less.

 

[Deleted member 45270]

could you imagine if onlyfans is doing this as some kind of marketing ploy

I mean look at how much attention this gets every time it happens

top kek if true

 

[GraysonDrake]

could you imagine if onlyfans is doing this as some kind of marketing ploy

I mean look at how much attention this gets every time it happens

top kek if true

Not gonna lie, the thought has crossed my mind.

 

[melanieoncam]

There are articles today in Xbiz and Variety magazine:

OnlyFans to Ban Explicit Sexual Content Starting in October

OnlyFans will begin banning explicit sexual content starting in October, according to statements made to Bloomberg.

www.xbiz.com

OnlyFans Will Ban Pornography Starting in October, Citing Need to Comply With Financial Partners

OnlyFans, which has boomed in popularity largely because of its X-rated fan pages, said it will ban sexually explicit content this fall.

variety.com

 

[Derek_Zoolander]

This story has been picked up by every major news site. So either it is true or Onlyfans is doing a horrible job at setting the record straight.

 

[SMuser69]

From the looks of it they are DMing responses but they're PR must think leaving everyone confused is a fun troll to them.

These are the 4 scenarios I've heard from their responses so far

1. They actually are trying to limit sexually explicate content to just 'artful' nudity

2. They are doing nothing

3. They are only limiting content on their App store site app because they actually want it for the app store but allowing it for desktop/web users like normal and the model will have to choose to clean their content for access to the app or only do business from the desktop/website.

4. Someone high up in PR/HR got fired and a power vacuum is allowing mixed messaging to run rampant till someone takes charge.

Even if 3 is true if they can screw up communication this bad right now. Even if they only allow nuns to use the app it would still be shutdown by google/apple because they won't be able to address the fault reporting of it. Reputation allow is enough to get a ban hammer from both app stores. I wouldn't be surprised we'll get a more accurate statement from google/apple about not allowing any app from them before they can make a blog/twitter statement officially about their position.

Or they'll allow the app but ban using google/apple pay to buy things on it which will lock out any way they could make sells through it.

 

[YungRiceWang]

reached out yesterday and got a response earlier. they didnt explicitly confirm or deny rumors/news, so im gonna assume that unless onlyfans made the announcement to certain media outlets (because of the bbc investigation or any other reason) before letting the creators and fans know, that onlyfans will remain the same; and that all the news is really talking about is onlyfans enforcing their TOS much more aggressively.

 

[schruti]

I like that subtle arrogance: They describe their own policy, and that's enough.

If hundreds of news sites agree on something different, it's not even worth mentioning them, let alone contradicting.

 

[Derek_Zoolander]

I like that subtle arrogance: They describe their own policy, and that's enough.

If hundreds of news sites agree on something different, it's not even worth mentioning them, let alone contradicting.

They are trying to thread the needle on how to keep their existing revenue stream while broadcasting it’s going to change in the very near future. Try asking your boss if there are layoffs on the horizon and if your department will be affected. You will get the same type of answer.

 

[AmberCutie]

Maybe the truth is that journalists have been speaking to a fake onlyfans PR person!

 

[Smoothie]

They are trying to thread the needle on how to keep their existing revenue stream while broadcasting it’s going to change in the very near future. Try asking your boss if there are layoffs on the horizon and if your department will be affected. You will get the same type of answer.

So, two commonalities I’ve noticed:

1. All the (alleged) confirmations of this change from OnlyFans are sent to media members via the same emailed (likely written by PR) company statement

2. All the denials (or avoiding the question by linking to current terms of service) of this change from OnlyFans are sent via the customer service department, but only when an OF member directly asks about it.

There is a very good chance the left hand is not talking to the right hand over at OnlyFans HQ. When that happens, it’s likely that customer service are either the last to find something out, or have been told to avoid the question (which is “are these October changes really coming”) by saying something along the lines of “here are our current terms and if they change we’ll tell you.”

One way to find out: OnlyFans’ official Twitter account profile has both a link to its official customer support account AND a media & press contact email address. If someone wanted to, email the media rep and tell them you’re writing a story and would like to confirm or refute that they will tighten restrictions on explicit scenes in October (be specific about that part to make it harder for them to tapdance around it by giving you today’s TOS), citing numerous news articles about it. See if they send you the same statement everyone else has gotten. Just link to the story on whichever outlet you think is most credible and ask them if it’s true and if they really sent that email.

I’m curious if you did both (contact customer service and also the media rep with the same question) if you’d get two different answers.

ETA: It’s also much, much harder for a paid media rep to feign ignorance about a big story in the media than it is for customer service. It’s their literal job to know, and to be in touch with the corporate direction enough to communicate it outward.

 

[AudriTwo]

From a PR/business practice. Bad publicity even wrong publicity can be good publicity. This is giving OnlyFans so much free traffic and making their site more of a household name if major news outlets are running with this story. Those news sites have financial gain as well to keep running the news story. Of course OnlyFans won't confirm or deny. All this does is feeds the capitalism dragon.

 

[AmberCutie]

From a PR/business practice. Bad publicity even wrong publicity can be good publicity. This is giving OnlyFans so much free traffic and making their site more of a household name if major news outlets are running with this story. Those news sites have financial gain as well to keep running the news story. Of course OnlyFans won't confirm or deny. All this does is feeds the capitalism dragon.

I just wish fans would stop unsubscribing due to the gossip.

 

[AudriTwo]

I just wish fans would stop unsubscribing due to the gossip.

I hear ya. It's fucking annoying that this is having bit of a trickle effect. Hopefully the people who unsubbed because of hysteria will be back in a week or two when they realize it's okay.

 

[Smoothie]

Maybe the truth is that journalists have been speaking to a fake onlyfans PR person!

Whoever is running social for Input is definitely coming across like an amateur. It’s so easy to find the official OF customer support account AND official media contact. Yet somehow they might have fucked it up.

How does one even wind up talking to a false PR rep if OF themselves provides the email address in its own Twitter bio? Did they just receive a random email and go with it?

It’s hard for me to believe ALL these media outlets did that, but Input doesn’t seem too bright.

 

[AmberCutie]

How does one even wind up talking to a false PR rep if OF themselves provides the email address in its own Twitter bio? Did they just receive a random email and go with it?

I see your point. None of the screenshots talking to OF PR show the email address though. They're hiding it as if it's private info, so if it's listed right on the OF page/Twitter, no need to black it out right?




^^also can we acknowledge the broken English or at least terrible writing by "PR" person here?

 

[Miss_Lollipop]

I see your point. None of the screenshots talking to OF PR show the email address though. They're hiding it as if it's private info, so if it's listed right on the OF page/Twitter, no need to black it out right?




^^also can we acknowledge the broken English or at least terrible writing by "PR" person here?

-- this one shows a media email address

 

[AmberCutie]

-- this one shows a media email address

How embarrassing that their official media account lies outright like this. Or is extremely dumb.