Making sense of a weird story.
When I learned, via a tweet from Hayes Brown, that OnlyFans was going to ban pornographic content from their site, I quipped “I was today old when I learned OnlyFans had non-pornographic content.” At least in the press coverage, it seemed literally to be their reason for existence. The actual story is more strange still. Buried deep in the CNBC report (“ Porn made OnlyFans a powerhouse. Now it’s banning sexual content after pressure from banks “) is this key bit: OnlyFans is majority-owned by Leonid Radvinsky, a Ukrainian-American porn entrepreneur. So, not only is the site mostly known for porn, but its founder intended it to be. The next sentence, though, seems to be the key to the new policy: According to a Bloomberg report, the firm is seeking a round of funding that would value it at more than $1 billion. Backing up a bit: The U.K.-based content subscription service said Thursday it will no longer allow “sexually explicit” content as of Oct.1. OnlyFans said the decision was taken to comply with requests from its banking and payment providers. “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 said in a statement. Payment processors Mastercard and Visa cut ties last year with rival Pornhub after accusations the porn site showed videos containing underage sex, rape and revenge porn. Pornhub denied claims it allows child sexual abuse material, and subsequently tightened its rules to prohibit uploads from unverified users. OnlyFans said Thursday it would allow certain posts containing nudity, so long as they adhere to its “Acceptable Use Policy.” It’s not clear how that will work in practice. OnlyFans’ terms of service outline a number of things that are prohibited from its platform, including material involving people under age 18 and other illegal or harmful content. So, it seems like the ownership is both worried about investors and the finance industry. Further, it’s not banning most things that I would consider “porn” but only some, presumably more “hardcore” subgenres to be specified later. Regardless, while the extant business model seems to be working, there is increasing risk: OnlyFans claims to have over 130 million users and 2 million content creators. The company generated net revenue of $375 million last year, according to an Axios report Thursday, which cited an investor deck. OnlyFans expects to hit $1.2 billion in revenues this year, and $2.5 billion by 2022, Axios reported. More than 300 OnlyFans creators reportedly earn at least $1 million annually, while 16,000 creators make at least $50,000 a year. With numbers like that, you’d think venture capitalists would be lining up to write a check for OnlyFans. However, according to Axios, many investors are steering clear due to concerns over its adult content. Some venture funds are prohibited from investing in sexual content sites due to agreements with their institutional backers.
