The company announced that it would ban adult content after banks and payment processing networks raised objection.
OnlyFans is synonymous with pornography, so it was pretty weird to see the platform announce that they were banning adult material from the website due to pressure from its payment processors. OnlyFans proved to be a massive hit with those creating adult content as they personally owned their business could generate revenue without having to deal with porn producers and shady production companies. The advent of the pandemic also meant that they were able to generate content by staying safe and at home. The company grew exponentially during the lockdown, raising billions of pounds of revenue with more than 130 million new users signing up to either create content or pay to watch and chat with creators, reported The Guardian. OnlyFans was a boon for tens of thousands of sex workers who could earn substantial incomes in exchange for a 20% cut of their earnings to the company. Sex workers said they experienced financial freedom that enabled them to escape exploitation that is common in the adult industry.
While there are other content creators on the platform, pornography was its mainstay. The company announced that it would ban adult material and only allow some posts containing nudity. It stated that “any content containing sexually-explicit conduct” will be banned, with the platform, that's known for its adult content, choosing to focus on mainstream sanitized content. It was banks and payment processors, who raised concerns about a website synonymous with porn, sharing porn, and extend its patriarchal tentacles to hold the website hostage. For the fear of losing its payment processing networks that would have killed the website altogether, OnlyFans announced the ban which would come into effect in October.
The ban of sexual content by a website known for its porn sparked off jokes online and here's 20 of the best we came across:
The Evangelical women trying to make onlyfans disappear don’t realize if I lose that income I’ll start fucking their husbands for money again
— Sydney Leathers (@sydneyelainexo) August 19, 2021
Leak: First slide of today’s OnlyFans executive meeting. pic.twitter.com/fYmUAzdq2r
— To Be Frank (@psa10memes) August 20, 2021
Only fans must not understand why people even use it on the first place. pic.twitter.com/Og9IonyO69
— Rawdawg Roadhog (@RawDawgRoadhog) August 19, 2021
I give porn-free OnlyFans one year before they're bought for $1 by a company that sells ceiling fans
— Matt Baume (@MattBaume) August 19, 2021
Only Fans just banned all sexually explicit content in effort to become more mainstream, what! #dankmemes pic.twitter.com/QeaRyn8hEp
— Dank Meme Bot (@DankMemesBot420) August 19, 2021
Apparently Only Fans is going the Tumblr route... #dankmemes pic.twitter.com/WJm2v8CJad
— Dank Meme Bot (@DankMemesBot420) August 20, 2021
In light of the recent Only fans news pic.twitter.com/vgDrpuivvi
— Nick (@andIamNick) August 20, 2021
Only Fans content creators after October 1st pic.twitter.com/FapRBTzLzS
— $riram V🦇 (@luvvram) August 19, 2021
It's the annual Tumblr/OnlyFans meetup pic.twitter.com/zHDGrfEhHn
— Jeffrey Zhang (@strangeharbors) August 19, 2021
Pornhub now that Onlyfans getting rid of porn: guess who’s baaack pic.twitter.com/OEQbhY65QY
— JT (@theonly1jt) August 19, 2021
OnlyFans users after hearing the news today. pic.twitter.com/C6W3mcyPtL
— FoxGod(VStreamer)🦊 (@Meme_Hokage) August 19, 2021
“You could not deal with Only Fans’ failure. Where did that bring you, back to me.” pic.twitter.com/PtJEkFvGjf
— Roy Wood Jr- Ex Jedi (@roywoodjr) August 19, 2021