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Original poster

Only Fans to ban porn ...

87 replies

MurielSpriggs · 19/08/2021 23:43

... after pressure from payment processors (banks)
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/aug/19/onlyfans-to-ban-adult-material-after-pressure-from-payment-processors

Am I being unreasonable to have mixed feelings about this?

Less porn. Less objectification of women. Less women being drawn into sex work.

Or one "no-contact" option removed from such women (and men). And whether the outcome is right or wrong, I'm a bit uncomfortable about banks controlling what is and isn't available online.

OP posts:
Canigooutyet · 20/08/2021 12:47

It's nothing new with regards to financial institutions not wanting to be connected to the sex industry. PayPal have had this policy for a very long time. High street banks will also close down accounts of linked to see work.
There are other payment methods on these sites not directly linked to banks and paypal. And the savvy ones will already have their own sites away from OF due to the costs and accept alternative payments like Bitcoin etc.

Canigooutyet · 20/08/2021 12:50

It's also naive to say that the sex workers are doing it by their own choice. Just like chatrubate, adult work etc pumps are putting content on the sites to exploit sex workers.

Unfashionable · 20/08/2021 12:57

This reply has been deleted

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ElvisPresleyHadABaby · 20/08/2021 13:16

I think women being able to do sex work in a safe and independent manner is of the utmost importance. The porn "industry" of pornhub, xvideos etc is absolutely abhorrent and ruins lives. This was a means for women to set their own boundaries and make profit for themselves.

Original poster
MurielSpriggs · 20/08/2021 13:21

Pornhub managed the consent and underage problem by taking down anything suspect, but leaving up stuff (the vast majority) which was clearly legal. I wonder why Only Fans can't adopt a similar strategy.

OP posts:
Badabingbadabum · 20/08/2021 13:25

Listening to the radio this morning, the issue seems to be Onlyfans inability to remove underage users on the site and other concerns about consent. I think in this case it is fair enough that they are penalised financially - that is the only thing which will make them take action.

Thisisworsethananticpated · 20/08/2021 14:38

Fucks sake
This angers me
It’s a safe revenue stream for sex workers

Bet they don’t cut down on any other actual crime either

Agree op

MotionActivatedDog · 20/08/2021 14:45

Theres loads of stuff on there that isn’t remotely sexual, that side of it is still fairly new. I subscribe to a crocheter on there, a friend is a PT and he has subscribers to his PT service on there.

I had no idea there was anything other than porn on OF. I’ve only ever heard it discussed in that context. So it is essentially YouTube?

noblegiraffe · 20/08/2021 14:46

Hard to feel sad about porn being banned from a platform that was increasingly being marketed online and in newspapers as an easy way for young women to earn a lot of money.

Of course many young women were pushed beyond their comfort limits and into more degrading acts in efforts to earn more money when it became clear that this was a lie.

TryingHarderToday · 20/08/2021 15:16

Unbelievable how many are defending porn here. Are you completely unable to understand systematic class analysis?

Unfashionable · 20/08/2021 15:25

@TryingHarderToday

Unbelievable how many are defending porn here. Are you completely unable to understand systematic class analysis?
I’m not ‘defending porn’. I’m defending the rights of women, many of whom may not be well educated or may be lone parents, to have the freedom to choose to work in the sex industry, if such work suits their circumstances.

Highly educated, privileged feminists should try harder to understand the lives and career options of those less fortunate than them.

noblegiraffe · 20/08/2021 15:31

to have the freedom to choose to work in the sex industry

Why would you want to continue the existence of a sex industry where many are forced to work in it? The existence of the sex industry is, on the whole, not a good thing for women.

If that means that some women would have to consider other work then that’s not a good enough argument to keep it going.

SirenSays · 20/08/2021 15:34

Can't say I'm surprised, PayPal has always been awful to sex workers.

Gimlisaxe · 20/08/2021 15:37

If they are going to do this, does it mean something is going to happen to twitter?

I understand its a different model, but I clicked on a trending name and saw a video that no one should have to see involuntary and it makes me wonder if pressure is going to be apply to them as well somehow

abcdeg · 20/08/2021 15:41

@TryingHarderToday

Unbelievable how many are defending porn here. Are you completely unable to understand systematic class analysis?

Wait... do you think this is a move to eradicate porn? All it does is mean viewers go back to tube sites which reshape without permission and takes control away from women who put out videos/etc

This only fans argument we're having now has literally nothing to do with porn vs no porn. You can be anti porn and still think OF is better than a tube site that rips off/copyrights videos, or a dodgy man filming women

The regulation of videos was an issue for the platform, but broadly, it's better for women to be in control.

SimonJT · 20/08/2021 15:41

@MotionActivatedDog

Theres loads of stuff on there that isn’t remotely sexual, that side of it is still fairly new. I subscribe to a crocheter on there, a friend is a PT and he has subscribers to his PT service on there.

I had no idea there was anything other than porn on OF. I’ve only ever heard it discussed in that context. So it is essentially YouTube?

More like Patreon, OF has been around since 2016 and was a way for people to make money out of hobbies, but also for people wanting to work in the arts who would make skits etc. I think the sex stuff only really started to boom during the pandemic.
Soontobe60 · 20/08/2021 15:43

@TryingHarderToday

Unbelievable how many are defending porn here. Are you completely unable to understand systematic class analysis?
This absolutely. ‘Sex work’ isn’t actual work. It’s exploitation, however which way people try to dress it up as being empowering and letting women be in charge of their own bodies.
pollypokcet · 20/08/2021 15:49

This absolutely. ‘Sex work’ isn’t actual work. It’s exploitation, however which way people try to dress it up as being empowering and letting women be in charge of their own bodies.

Sex work varies from anonymous foot fetish pictures to drug-addicted women on street corners with pimps. A lot of sex work is exploitative but who's to say it all is? There are sex workers who earn plenty and enjoy their way of acquiring money

Soontobe60 · 20/08/2021 15:50

@Unfashionable
I’m not ‘defending porn’. I’m defending the rights of women, many of whom may not be well educated or may be lone parents, to have the freedom to choose to work in the sex industry, if such work suits their circumstances. Highly educated, privileged feminists should try harder to understand the lives and career options of those less fortunate than them

So it’s ok for poor, less educated women and girls to be exploited because they’re ‘less fortunate’? Fucking hell, next you’ll be promoting child Labour for families who are on Universal Credit!
No woman should have to resort to prostituting herself in order to keep a roof over her head and food in her children’s bellies. Suggesting that it’s a valid option is about as anti feminist as it gets. We should be fighting for single parents to have better support to enable them to improve their lives, career options and housing choices - not tell them ‘ok dearie, if you want to take your kids on holiday, all you need to do is post a few explicit shots of yourself online’.
Absolutely shocking take!

Soontobe60 · 20/08/2021 15:52

@pollypokcet

This absolutely. ‘Sex work’ isn’t actual work. It’s exploitation, however which way people try to dress it up as being empowering and letting women be in charge of their own bodies.

Sex work varies from anonymous foot fetish pictures to drug-addicted women on street corners with pimps. A lot of sex work is exploitative but who's to say it all is? There are sex workers who earn plenty and enjoy their way of acquiring money

It’s the whole principle of prostitution that’s exploitative.
Carboncheque · 20/08/2021 15:53

’Sex work’ isn’t actual work. It’s exploitation’

That damages women as a whole.

Only Fans were also taking 20% of ‘content creators’ earnings. Saying they were quite reasonable as pimps go is a weak defence.

DdraigGoch · 20/08/2021 15:56

@YellowDingy2

I'm not convinced this is a good move for women. OF seems to be a way for some women to have complete control over the sex work they do, which has historically not been the case. I don't think removing that opportunity will be a positive change.
It's not necessarily 'complete control' though. There are plenty of ways to record what is onscreen. Once something is on the Internet, it's out there. There's no taking it down and it leaves you vulnerable to blackmail. It could also affect your career (if you are in teaching, politics, or something and some footage from your student days surfaces).
noblegiraffe · 20/08/2021 15:57

There are sex workers who earn plenty and enjoy their way of acquiring money

That doesn't validate the existence of the sex industry. It's like the people complaining that some girls lost their jobs when they stopped paying women in underwear to parade around at boxing matches as if that made it the wrong decision.

As for people saying 'oh, girls will be forced onto seedier websites' - well lets get rid of those too? However, I don't think those seedier websites are promoted in the mainstream media quite as heavily as OnlyFans has been.

NoNotYou · 20/08/2021 15:58

God I'd love to earn money on OF. If only someone wanted photos of me Sitting on the Sofa eating a Magnum, or Washing Up in odd Marigolds

newnortherner111 · 20/08/2021 15:59

I'd prefer the site to close down altogether, but this is a step in the right direction. It will reduce the objectification of women but not by a great deal. I'd bet there will still be some very small outfits worn.