The children selling explicit videos on OnlyFans

[HecatesCatsInFancyHats]

British subscription site OnlyFans is failing to prevent underage users from selling and appearing in explicit videos, a BBC investigation has found.
Under-18s have used fake identification to set up accounts, and police say a 14-year-old used a grandmother's passport.
The UK's most senior police officer for child protection also says children are being "exploited" on the platform.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-57255983

The business model is an mlm Cat just because they're convincing their mates to flog their arse rather than miracle diet cures the method is the same. Why do you think there are so many media advertorials about women who brought a house etc etc from the proceeds of OF?

It is definitely an mlm and BBC and other media outlets are complicit. For them to now turn around and say "Oh this thing that was obviously going to happen is happening" when they've been selling it as the answer to student debt on their junior news outlet Newsbeat is a bit sickening really.

Sadly, “empowered” seems to be synonymous with “desired”. Empowered should mean to be confident to be who you are without the need of validation of others, especially strangers. Not needing surgery or cosmetic procedures. Not needing to be “sex positive”. But, no. Empowered is to completely submit to the patriarchal demands on your appearance.

I completely agree.
But people - particularly women - will fight tooth and nail to tell you you're wrong.

Desirability is a powerful social currency that you can now exchange for real cash.

@Erikrie

That's interesting. Yesterday my DD was talking about a girl at school that had been 'selling' videos of herself naked online and £100 had been dumped in friends bank account for doing this. The girl is age 12 although looks older. DD didn't know what platform it was. I wonder if this could have been it. Was planning to try and investigate this further.

This definitely needs reporting to the school safeguarding team so they can make a referral to the local authority.

This is absolutely horrific, and was also completely predictable.

@PurgatoryOfPotholes

ACatWhoBinds

It's not an mlm?? Who told you that😂😂

Let's tackle this question in detail.

The OnlyFans Affiliate Model

If you’re not familiar with how referral oraffiliate marketingworks it’s really simple. When someone uses your code or link to buy something or register for a service, they get a commission. In the case of user-based companies, like OnlyFans, affiliate programs are a great way to increase your user base quickly.

If you’re a member and someone signs up using your referral code you actually collect 5% of their earningsfor an entire year.[Note from Purgatory- it used to be forever, IIRC]

What’s important to note here is that is incredibly scalable passive income. Anyone would find that attractive and some people earn substantial profits just through referrals and affiliates. Affiliate marketing itself isn’t a scam and many online creators have some part of their online income coming from affiliate earnings. MLMs just happen to also use referral or affiliate programs for their recruitment to incentivise members to recruit.

(Continues)

It Turns OnlyFans Into an MLM – Sort of

AnMLM, or multi-level marketing company, is essentially a pyramid with the people at the top benefitting from everyone under them – a pyramid scheme. While this referral model isn’texactlythe same, there are a lot of shocking similarities to those types of companies.

First of all, you can base your entire business on referrals.Just like with an MLM company, you can make the bulk of your OnlyFans profit not with your own sales, but with your “team”. Coaching a team, rather than producing your own content, is big business in the OnlyFans world.

Blown out incomes lure people in.Imagine going from poverty to making over $30,000a month.Those stories are being shared around, but the truth is that those are the top 1% earners. And the top1% of OnlyFans accounts earn 33% of the money coming in on OnlyFans.

Direct sales folks use similar tactics but the reality for both is a lot of work for a lot less money.

Easy money and lifestyle selling.If the money isn’t enough these folks sell you on joining their lifestyle. Just like Tupperware lets you “party for a living”, OnlyFans creators can allegedly earn an income by uploading a few pictures from the comfort of their home.

(Continues)

Pressure, pressure, pressure.When all else fails, many MLMs and OnlyFans affiliates use this tactic – and you might not even realize it’s happening. Things like, “Hey, babe” (or “Hey boss babe” from MLMs) and “Come on, you’d be great at this!”.

All of this is bad enough when you’re trying to coerce adults into joining, but imagine if you used these same tactics on children?

(Continues)

The creator says that when you’re 18 you can join the platform and you, too, can make money. They might even invite you to a private group or Discord server to get tips and tricks if you sign up with their link.

Everyone is welcoming and supportive.

Kids Are Being Groomed

Now that it’s mainstream, people are asking teenagers to make OnlyFans when they turn 18. Two groups are responsible: Creepy people who find them attractive and want to see those types of pictures and predatory affiliates who think they can profit off young girls

Continues:
iliketodabble.com/is-onlyfans-an-mlm/

So, tell me, what's more important? The differences between OF's financial model and a classic MLM, or the similarities?

This cannot be said enough, thank you. I am really sick of Only Fans apologists popping up on every thread to claim that it is not an MLM. If it's not, a new word or acronym needs to be invented that is immediately recognised as meaning "bad news, exploitative, you're being sold a lie, you'll live to regret it, someone you've never met before, and never will, instaking a portion of your earnings, and you are stuck with it".

What's worse is that these apologists always cut through threads talking about the sexual exploitation of the vulnerable and the very young. As if their "gotcha" MLM spiel is the most important message to be taken away from the discussion.

As an aside, I gather that when OF changed the referral commissions from a "for life" arrangement to a 12 months one, many OF content providers petitioned to reverse that decision, as they absolutely depended on that referred commission as their income.

And also, there are reports of a number of men setting up as OF content providers, for the sole purpose of recruiting women, and getting their 5% commission from them. That's nothing less than pimping.

On the MLM thing- it's a sidetrack.

Certainly you can get money for getting others on. So let's call that what it is. It's procuring women (girls) for 'sex work'. Profiting off that work is pimping.

The point that those active on the site can financially benefit from getting others on there is open to massive exploration. Obviously.

The people who created it chose that model for a reason.

I mentioned earlier but can't see any thoughts.

Why the focus on men buying sexual content from underage girls getting their money back?

Why aren't they getting visits from the police???

Why the focus on underage girls getting into it. Easy money. Etc. Handwring.

And not why they are making money? Where the demand for this content is coming from? The men paying for this?

The money back thing is bizarre. Like an advert. Buy sexual images of children. Someone reports the child.. no worries! You'll get your money back.

Where is the exploration, the consequences for the men who are driving this? Banned forum the site? Police knocking? I thought sexual images of children were illegal to purchase and enjoy?

Apparently not. And the press slant is noticeable in not even touching on it. That's so concerning.

^i also find this disturbing.

Headline should not read “The children selling explicit videos on OnlyFans”, but the men purchasing explicit videos of children on OnlyFans

Headline should not read “The children selling explicit videos on OnlyFans”, but the men purchasing explicit videos of children on OnlyFans

Yes, why doesn't it?

Good comments NiceGerbil and Lucidas and very important questions. Every time we hear about mass child exploitation like grooming gangs etc we hear "lessons must be learned". I often wonder what lessons are being learned. Children are still being exploited and still being made responsible for their exploitation.

Thank you for this thread and especially @TedImgoingmad for posting that article.

It's really opened my eyes.

I thought only fans was for slutty people who had no shame but who were making a choice and knew what they were doing. I didn't realise how exploitative the business model was.

I guess this kind of behemoth can't be shut down. We are powerless. At least now I know this I can respond to jokey comments about "accountants" ( tik tok joke for people who do OF videos) and explain that OF is no joke.

Headline should not read “The children selling explicit videos on OnlyFans”, but the men purchasing explicit videos of children on OnlyFans

For this and Nice Gerbil's comments - maybe it's worth complaining to the BBC about the embedded perspective in the article and the headline?

Headline should not read “The children selling explicit videos on OnlyFans”, but the men purchasing explicit videos of children on OnlyFans

Maybe the men weren't aware? Onlyfans does have a disclaimer saying all depicted persons are at least 18 and ID is required for signing up: onlyfans.com/usc2257

Depending on what age the child is, 16 or 17 year olds can often look 18.

Depending on what age the child is, 16 or 17 year olds can often look 18.

Trying and failing to come up with a news story or time when that trope hasn't been trotted out.

The BBC item also discusses 12 and 14 year-olds. I'm sure that somebody will shortly be along to point out to adult women that some children of that age can look older - with the some doing a lot of heavy-lifting there.

And it's a grim coincidence that a Times analysis highlights that girls are still largely unprotected from abuse and grooming.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/4257745-Police-failing-to-protect-thousands-of-girls-at-risk-of-sexual-abuse-Times-report-10-years-after-it-exposed-grooming-gangs

What a flashback to my youth and the persistence of Homes for Wayward Boys and Girls who were exposed to similar patterns of abuse. I wonder if those tropes have anything to do with that exculpation of men/consumers of CSA/CSE and the persistence of this abuse?

Poor darlings. Perhaps the men need to exercise a bit of personal responsibility and only purchase access to explicit imagery through more strongly regulated routes.

But sex work is work like any other job no?

Perhaps prospective purchasers could follow the example of Sainsbury's and its Think 25 policy?

As a responsible retailer, it's really important to us that age restricted products don't end up in the hands of those underage. We're not only legally obliged to do this, but also recognise the importance of this as part of our company value tomake a positive difference to our communities.

We also recognise how difficult it can be for our colleagues to judge the age of someone in their mid-late teens or early twenties. Someone who looks 18 could easily be 16, likewise, they could easily be 20 or 22. It's less likely, however, that they'll be 25. For this reason, we ask all colleagues to check the age of anyone buying restricted products who they believe to be under 25.

help.sainsburys.co.uk/help/terms-and-conditions/think-25-policy

@coronaway

But sex work is work like any other job no?

Well I've never been forced to have sex with a customer or suck a senior colleague's dick so in that sense no its not anything like any other job.

@TheWeeDonkey no it's strange that isn't it. Maybe it in fact sex work isn't just work like any other...

If under 18s are able to so easily sign up to an adult porn site with someone else's ID then maybe the focus should be on OnlyFans to tighten their sign up process for content-creators? Maybe they should be asking for multiple forms of ID?

I don't really understand how U18s managed to sign up in the first place, as well as proof of ID OnlyFans creators would also need to give bank account details too for their earnings to be paid into, right? Isn't OnlyFans checking the bank account details match the details on the ID?

"Well I've never been forced to have sex with a customer or suck a senior colleague's dick so in that sense no its not anything like any other job."

Being forced to have sex isn't sexwork. It's called rape.

Indeed @coronaway its such a ridiculous trite mantra isn't it? And really dismissive of people harmed by sexual exploitation.

And I really hate that again and again children are made responsible for their exploitation. It feels like men's right to wank over whatever tickles their fancy is paramount to whatever or whoever is the target of their fetish. Refunding users? FFS

I'm sick how everything is pornified now. I'm also sick of women praising sex work and saying how empowering it is. It makes the argument against porn and prostitution a lot harder to put across.

I opened my first bank account in my name when I was 14.

"I opened my first bank account in my name when I was 14."

Yes under 18s can have a bank account. But if that account was given to a porn site (eg OnlyFans) to receive earnings during the sign-up process, the website should be able to verify the details(name and DOB etc) of the owner, and thus reject the application?