OnlyFans Banning sexually explicit content will put lives at risk, American sex workers say | US news

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American sex workers say the decision to sign up for OnlyFans to ban “sexually explicit” content will threaten their livelihoods, lead to more covert action, and ultimately endanger their lives.

“They are taking away our safe spaces,” said Jen, the activist and creator of OnlyFans who asked that her name only be used by her first name. “No one wants to protect us.”

OnlyFans, a subscriber-only website that hosts a host of producers but is best known for its adult content, has gone viral over the past year as sex work — like many professions — has moved online amid the pandemic.

Activists say banning porn will put more people at risk. “This change will put workers on the street who could otherwise pay rent, starve the children of sex workers who could otherwise feed them, and force female workers who currently work remotely via the Internet into more dangerous street sex work,” he said. Mary Moody, online sex worker and co-chair of the Association of Adult Industry Workers and Artists.

OnlyFans has been favored by online sex workers due to its lower fees compared to many adult cams and other content sites, allowing them to get 80% of their earnings. Many say it gave them financial freedom they couldn’t find in other industries.

Heather Berg, associate professor of women’s studies, gender and sexuality at Washington University in St. Louis, said the decision would be “disastrous” for sex workers who have used the platform for their own gain and to gain more control over the work process.

“For people who previously made a living from porn studios, moving to OnlyFans means greater control over safety, partner selection, and acting – which is especially important for performers of color and transgender people,” she said. “This decision will put control and profit back into the hands of producers.”

The platform said in a statement that the changes are aimed at complying with the requests of its “banking partners and payment providers”.

Payment companies are increasingly cracking down on adult content, forcing online platforms that use banking services to comply with stricter rules.

In 2020, after a report from the New York Times alleging “revenge porn” was posted on the prominent website Pornhub, Mastercard and Visa blocked payments to Pornhub’s host company MindGeek. In response, tens of millions of unverified consensual videos have been removed, cutting the incomes of thousands of sex workers.

In April, MasterCard updated its rules, declaring that it requires “clear, unambiguous and documented consent” for content on all platforms it uses as a payment processor.

Modi said such changes “irreparably harm” members of society, particularly marginalized groups such as sex workers and transgender people.

“Every time a bank transaction is canceled or a statute is revoked, it is the most vulnerable workers who bear the brunt of the damage,” she said. “Make no mistake, this change will kill sex workers.”

OnlyFans as of June was valued at over $1 billion after growing at over 100% in recent months. The platform has been hugely popular primarily because of adult content, only to remove responsible creators, in a kind of “digital optimization,” activists say.

“OnlyFans fans wouldn’t exist without sex workers,” said Kathy Reisnowitz, who ranks 4% of the site’s content creators in terms of subscribers. “We’ve seen this happen before where companies make a lot of profits and a huge audience on the back of sex workers and then remove them when they reach a certain level of success.”

OnlyFans’ sanitization is the latest in a long line of cases of internet censorship that have pushed sex workers to the sidelines. In 2018, Tumblr banned adult content and subscription site Patreon did the same.

Following the 2018 passage of Fosta-Sesta, legislation aimed at combating online sex trafficking by making websites criminally liable for user content, sex workers reported being kicked out of websites like Craigslist, Reddit and Google, and the platform removed. The famous Backpage.

“Sex workers are once again feeling the dread of panic yanking out another lifeline,” said Kate D’Adamo, a sex worker organization.

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