Yesterday it was announced that OnlyFans will ban sexually explicit content starting in
October, and Bella Thorne is being blamed!
Let’s get into it..
On Thursday, Only Fans announced that their policies are changing to ban sexually explicit
content.
The move is extremely unexpected because the platform has become a well known space for
sex workers to create sexually explicit content for their followers.
OnlyFans’ 130 million users largely use the app to access this adult content, but
effective October 1st, OnlyFans will, quote, “prohibit the posting of any content containing
sexually explicit conduct.
In order to ensure the long-term sustainability of the platform, and to continue to host an
inclusive community of creators and fans, we must evolve our content guidelines.”
OnlyFans said that creators will still be allowed to upload nude photos and videos as
long as they are in accordance with company policy.
In terms of what this new policy is exactly, the company said it would reveal further details
in the coming days.
The company stated they are making these changes to, quote, “comply with the requests of
our banking partners and payout providers.”
The statement continued, quote, “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.”
And this news has the internet shook.
Influencer Matt Bernstein shared a screenshot of a headline about the news to their Instagram
story with the clever caption, quote, “In other news spotify is banning music and ikea
is banning furniture.”
And it’s true, OnlyFans has become somewhat synonymous with sex work over the past year
as it exploded in popularity during the pandemic.
And OnlyFans has been praised in the past for helping de-stigmatize sex work by giving
sex workers a platform to make a living safely and on their own terms.
But users of the platform had been noticing a shift in which creators the company seemed
to be boosting the most.
Silfy, an OnlyFans creator, told Bloomberg, quote, “If you look at all the promos, they
don’t promote us at all.
I noticed a huge drop in them promoting people who did sex work.”
An example of this new direction is the recent launch of OFTV, a free streaming service by
OnlyFans that will not include any X-rated material.
The streaming service features original content from more than 100 creators, spanning fitness,
cooking, comedy, health, music and more.
The announcement of the change to the platform has drawn a lot of criticism.
Journalist and author Kim Kelly took to Twitter to write, quote, “OnlyFans would be nothing
without the sex workers whose labor built it up into a major platform.
Now it’s tossing them aside, and removing a vital source of income from a population
of workers who are disproportionately marginalized and have no protections under U.S. labor law.”
And this is not the first time OnlyFans has been heavily criticized for its policies.
Over the last year, many celebrities have joined the platform, including Tana Mongeau,
Jordyn Woods, Amber Rose, and, perhaps most controversially, Bella Thorne.
You may recall Bella broke records when she joined OnlyFans in 2020.
She set her monthly subscription price at $20 and earned $1,000,000 in a single day,
breaking the website’s previous record.
A week later, she said that number had doubled.
At the time, Aussie Rachel, a sex worker and OnlyFans creator, told Rolling Stone, quote,
“To witness a celebrity gentrifying a platform and making obscene amounts of money without
acknowledging the plight of sex workers is truly a slap in the face.”
(file: Rachel.png)
Bella told the Los Angeles Times that she had joined the platform as research for a
movie.
At the time she said, quote, “It’s a feature we are researching as I’m living it currently.
What are the ins and outs?
What does a platform like this do to its users?”
These comments from Bella did not go over well on Twitter.
One person wrote, quote, “If Bella Thorne wanted to actually experience what it’s
like being a sex worker, she could have disguised herself, made a fake name, bought an iPhone
7 and started from scratch just like the majority of all sex workers had to do.”
Aside from the general criticism of her joining the platform, Bella found herself at the center
of a major controversy when she charged users $200 to unlock a pay-per-view piece of content
that she allegedly implied was a nude photo.
Allegedly, the photo turned out to be a lingerie pic, and led OF users to request refunds in
record numbers.
A few changes to OnlyFans’ policies followed this incident: Creators in some countries
would now have to wait 30 days, up from 7, to receive payouts.
Additionally, the maximum amount a creator could receive as a tip was set at $100 and
the maximum amount a creator could charge for a pay-per-view post was set at $50.
OnlyFans denied that these changes were Bella’s fault, but the damage was done.
One person tweeted, quote, “bella thorne f****d over so many sex workers, i am so sick
of celebrities.
the entire tipping system just changed and got a huge price cap because she scammed thousands
of people.
absolutely ridiculous”
While Bella did apologize on Twitter, it was too little too late.
And now people on Twitter are blaming Bella for this latest change to the platform.
This person Tweeted, quote, “Reminder that this is entirely Bella Thorne’s fault”
Another person shared this image with the caption, quote, “bella thorne after scamming
her fans out of 2mil and ruining the platform for everyone else:”
And another person tweeted, quote, “Idk how but this OnlyFans news is Bella Thorne’s
fault.”
Bella has yet to comment on the situation, but we will definitely keep you posted if
she does.
For more celebrity news, click right over here for another Clevver video.
Then hop to the comments and let us know what you think about this entire situation.
As always, I’m your host Renee Ariel, you can follow me on socials @reneeariel, and
I’ll see you next time!