Wall Street vs Porn Ban: Adult-Content Creator Site Reverses Ban on Sexually Explicit Content Amid Outrage Subscription-based creator network OnlyFans has revoked its ban on pornographic content that was set to go into effect on October 1.
By Emily Rella Edited by Amanda Breen
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Talk about not lasting long!
Subscription-based creator network OnlyFans has revoked its ban on pornographic content that was set to go into effect on October 1 amid massive backlash from creators, subscribers and sex workers at large.
"The proposed October 1, 2021 changes are no longer required due to banking partners' assurances that OnlyFans can support all genres of creators," OnlyFans said in a statement provided to Entrepreneur.
The original changes were announced last Thursday and stated that sexually explicit conduct would no longer be permitted on the site per requests and pressure from banking partners and payout providers.
Related: Adult Content Creators Banned From Posting Sexually Explicit Content on OnlyFans
"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 told Entrepreneur at the time.
The announcemnt was met with outrage from hundreds of adult-content creators on the platform.
"You took the easy way out. You've deprived millions of sex workers of their sole income," creator Lenina Crowe wrote on Twitter to OnlyFans. "You could have implemented better moderation, but instead, you've totally fucked us over with barely any time to plan for the future."
"You never once acknowledged we even existed. You've been trying to distance yourself from us," said another creator. "You don't support us. Those changes don't help us if we can't do our jobs on there. You took out money & then left us."
OnlyFans also posted a note to Twitter announcing the switchback in policy.
Thank you to everyone for making your voices heard.
— OnlyFans (@OnlyFans) August 25, 2021
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.
Thank you to everyone for making your voices heard," the company wrote. "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."
The company also said that it would be emailing its creator network about the changes "shortly."
It has not been made clear whether or not the suspension of the pornographic ban will be permanent or if it is a temporary decision.
"The platform has no further comment beyond this at this time," OnlyFans told Entrepreneur.
In an interview with the Financial Times, OnlyFans CEO Tim Stokley blamed big banks as the main reason for the ban.
"The change in policy, we had no choice — the short answer is banks," he told the publication. "This decision was made to safeguard [creators'] funds and subscriptions from increasingly unfair actions by banks and media companies — we obviously do not want to lose our most loyal creators."
The company currently hosts over 2 million creators who have generated an estimated $5 billion in revenue since the company launched in 2016.
