OnlyFans has announced that it will no longer host pornographic content – despite being the very same thing that made the platform blow up.
The platform has welcomed over 130 million users, with a staggering 2 million creators who have collectively earned over $5 billion. Founded in 2016, the platform has received much praise for providing a safe place for sex workers to do their jobs on their own terms.
In a statement, OnlyFans said: “Effective 1 October 2021, OnlyFans will 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.
“Creators will continue to be allowed to post content containing nudity as long as it is consistent with our Acceptable Use Policy.”
The announcement came after reports that the company was struggling to secure investment. While ‘sex sells’, it also appears to scare off venture capitalists, as several firms have strict policies banning apps that publish sexually explicit content.
Naturally, people flocked to Twitter after the announcement and the responses are far from disappointing.
Im the guy who asked them to remove Sex from only fans!!! I thought It would be nice!!! I didnt know it woiuld make people mad!!! Im sorry!!— wint (@wint) 1629400466
I was thinking of starting myself an only fans page except, instead of photos of me in the nude you get pictures I’… https://t.co/8Jb4UiaGqy— Natalie Hood (@Natalie Hood) 1629395080
Only fans banning porn is like McDonald’s banning hamburgers Stupid as fuck— nick (@nick) 1629400560
Only fans must not understand why people even use it on the first place. https://t.co/Og9IonyO69— Rawdawg Roadhog (@Rawdawg Roadhog) 1629400942
Only Fans banning sexual content after they got this popular is like McDonald's deciding to drop burgers and focus… https://t.co/sk8338BHlV— Ian Fortey: Frozen Since Dec. 28 (@Ian Fortey: Frozen Since Dec. 28) 1629398513
Only fans doing the same thing tumblr did a few years ago. It’s funny because tumblr crawled so only fans could walk 🤷🏾♂️— Franklin Saint (@Franklin Saint) 1629399799
"Only Fans" ain't shit without sex workers. Just like Tumblr before it, social media platforms love to use sex wo… https://t.co/4PcO1acMJk— Julie S. Lalonde (@Julie S. Lalonde) 1629398441
The content on my Only Fans page is well within their new rules. https://t.co/EJWI1sDcRQ— Colonel Paul Green 🔔🇺🇸 📈 (@Colonel Paul Green 🔔🇺🇸 📈) 1629398538
Only fans is banning porn starting in October which makes sense you always see television channels banning tv shows… https://t.co/bUw14HTRuD— rose (70k era) (@rose (70k era)) 1629397578
As Only Fans decides to kick the core base it built itself around to the curb, I'd like to remind them that Tumblr… https://t.co/MLZ0Dr9Ofa— Kaipo (@Kaipo) 1629398420
Onlyfans catered their platform almost exclusively to sex workers, built their wealth and popularity off the backs… https://t.co/S0JpsVUBYH— Savvy☭ (@Savvy☭) 1629401713
visa & mastercard buckling to evangelical psychos & successfully pressuring onlyfans to limit the sex work on their… https://t.co/7PDIoXc3IX— hasanabi (@hasanabi) 1629431748
Wait.. So Onlyfans is allegedly getting rid of sex workers so investors can have a 'safe investment' in a website t… https://t.co/ok7fJ0Wt3N— Ross O'Donovan (@Ross O'Donovan) 1629436401
A lot of people are getting the OnlyFans story wrong, and the reality of it is a lot more damaging and concerning t… https://t.co/HcOYG1VU1D— Post-Culture Review (@Post-Culture Review) 1629435973
Inevitably the reaction prompted a lot of memes too.
Only fans banning sex content is like KFC not selling chicken no more— Spac𝓮 ⭐️ (@Spac𝓮 ⭐️) 1629401809
sex workers after Only Fans bans pornography https://t.co/AEXQtLvKSk— JoeI (@JoeI) 1629401487
The receptionist at Just For Fans processing the new applicants from Only Fans https://t.co/YV4sKMAZJM— ⚡️ 𝓢𝓲𝔁 𝓕𝓸𝓸𝓽 𝓗𝓾𝓼𝓼𝔂 ✨ (@⚡️ 𝓢𝓲𝔁 𝓕𝓸𝓸𝓽 𝓗𝓾𝓼𝓼𝔂 ✨) 1629402671
Just when I was about to launch my own Onlyfans page. Gosh dangit.— Seán Ono Lennon (@Seán Ono Lennon) 1629432073
Isn't that the sole purpose of Only Fans? That's like Pizza hut saying starting in October we will no longer be s… https://t.co/A9go2qNVfC— Adrian Assman (@Adrian Assman) 1629398703
Only Fans content creators & subscribers seeing the news https://t.co/cmToKNhKnk— 🥶🔥 (@🥶🔥) 1629398928
OnlyFans OnlyFans in October https://t.co/mpOCCQSp53— Eric (@Eric) 1629410174
Reading about the Only Fans story. https://t.co/X7zHdyzUYb— Chris Lewis (@Chris Lewis) 1629400093
Earlier in the week, OnlyFans launched OFTV, a free streaming service that features PG content from over a hundred OnlyFans creators.
From fitness to recipes and music, OnlyFans trialled a soft launch earlier in the year for the streaming service that now has over 800 videos.