OnlyFans
- OnlyFans quietly changed its terms of service to prohibit sexual content filmed in public settings.
- Many content creators are upset about the new change as it could affect their content.
- Some creators said they might leave the site in favor of a competitor.
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
OnlyFans, a popular content-subscription platform popular among sex workers, quietly changed its terms of service to prohibit any public sexual activity.
The new rule, according to OnlyFans' Terms of Service, bans any video that "was recorded in or is being broadcast from a public place where members of the public are reasonably likely to see the activities being illustrated." Vice's Samantha Cole first reported the news on Tuesday.
Multiple OnlyFans creators who frequently film public sexual content told Insider that they received no warning of the new rule change.
One creator, Brian, who requested that his last name be withheld to protect his identity, told Insider in an interview that the new rules "might be the end of OnlyFans for a lot of people, including myself."
It was not immediately clear when the platform, which did not respond to a request for comment, enacted the policy. Vice reported that it likely happened in the last month, as there was no mention of "public places" in archives of the company's policy in mid-February.
Aspen Eden, an OnlyFans creator who films and photographs content outdoors in nature, told Vice that she noticed the change on Saturday when she was sent an email detailing why some of her content was taken down. According to Eden's account of the OnlyFans email, content filmed in remote places like the woods is now only permitted if it's a private territory.
Eden told Vice the company gave no warning before taking down outdoor content.
-aspen♡ (@aspenxeden) March 13, 2021
Brian tweeted in mid-February that 20 of his public sex videos were taken down. He told Insider that although he's now aware of this new change, he's still been uploading videos that were filmed in public and is seeking ways to evade the rule, including uploading videos without captions.
Eden told Vice that she would have a new place for her outdoor content, which is a sentiment that many OnlyFans creators shared and expressed on Twitter. Many suggested they might move their content over to Just For Fans, a top competitor of OnlyFans.
One Twitter user who said they had outdoor content removed from OnlyFans said that they were glad the content would not be removed from their Just For Fans page.
Matthew Wille noted in a story for Input Magazine that while public sex is a popular kink, it's still considered a crime in many US states. "You can see how a company might find it difficult to moderate such content. It's much easier to just ban it outright," Wille wrote. "The larger problem is that OnlyFans keeps changing the rules without warning creators... or even bothering to tell them after the fact."