5 ms·

"Suspended" aka they're waiting for all of this to blow over.

by d3nj4l 5y ago

Mindwipe 5y ago
I think it's more likely that the banks and Mastercard that were pulling service to them freaked out about being trending topics for three days and agreed to reinstate everything.
- wccrawford 5y ago
  I have to think there must also be some requirement that OnlyFans work harder to prevent underage porn as well. Half the news I heard about this mentioned how much of it was on there.
  - adjkant 5y ago
    While there may be some, it is worthwhile looking into where that news was coming from. Much of that push was coming from NCOSE, which is pretty much a literal puritanical force. They had success recently with Pornhub, and then moved to OnlyFans. NCOSE taking credit themselves for pressuring the payment processors: https://endsexualexploitation.org/articles/exploitation-website-onlyfans-forced-to-change-thanks-to-ncoses-work-with-payment-processors/ https://endsexualexploitation.org/articles/exploitation-webs... NCOSE is more or less using the "for the children" approach to try and stomp out all pronogrpahy generally. Their president "has helped draft ordinances to end or curb the impact of sexually oriented businesses such as pornography shops, strip clubs, and related establishments" according to their own website. Members of their board have founded and led pushes to ban and discourage all pornohprahy entirely. https://endsexualexploitation.org/about/staff/ https://endsexualexploitation.org/about/staff/ https://endsexualexploitation.org/about/board/ https://endsexualexploitation.org/about/board/ A critique on the Pornhub article / case, describing its reliance on evangelical groups: https://newrepublic.com/article/160488/nick-kristof-holy-war-pornhub https://newrepublic.com/article/160488/nick-kristof-holy-war... No doubt that some positive changes came in the Pornhub case, hence the significant lack of public pushback there. But I think their true goals are being exposed as they try to push further. Pushing on a platform that has become a key income source for many during a global pandemic was probably not the best idea for them in hindsight. It also got them a lot of public attention they probably didn't want, in good part due to a large voice and push over many recent months by sex workers, many of whom got a voice in articles in the media recently instead of only sources similar to NCOSE.
    - favorited 5y ago
      NCOSE is the renamed successor to the puritanical group "Morality in Media," which was literally founded by some Catholic priests to oppose everything from pornography to blasphemy in Monty Python films. They don't give a shit about children or sex trafficking– it's all about eliminating availability of things that the Religious Right deemed verboten in the 1960s.
spcebar 5y ago
IMO think the only worse PR nightmare than banning adult content on your adult content platform is reversing your reversal on that ban.
- dougmwne 5y ago
  I suppose? But then again it's hard to know what was going on behind the scenes. Did the CEO just save the company from their vendors bankrupting them in a daring display of finger pointing brinkmanship?
  - sct202 5y ago
    Sometimes you just have to threaten to blow the whole business up before anyone goes to bat for you behind the scenes.
    - elliekelly 5y ago
      If this was actually the strategy behind the move I really admire management’s tenacity. I’m having a hard time connecting the dots as to how or why a bank/payment processor would suddenly reverse course on their decision because of the bad PR suffered by another company.
A4ET8a8uTh0 5y ago
Maybe? The timeline suggests that they got some sort of assurance from banks they work with, they will not not be bothered. Founder just blamed banks for the whole thing the other day. https://people.com/human-interest/onlyfans-founder-says-banks-are-to-blame-for-pornography-ban-we-had-no-choice/ https://people.com/human-interest/onlyfans-founder-says-bank...
- d3nj4l 5y ago
  I struggle to imagine any bank suddenly deciding they're OK with adult content after all. Apart from the moral outrage risks (like the ones OnlyFans itself has been facing wrt the literal kids on their platform), they don't want to accidentally run afoul of sex trafficking laws either. There's just too many risks in adult content. It's really surprising OnlyFans got as far as it did with adult content. Plus, something like a small company blaming banks is everyday business for those banks. It won't hurt their PR much in the long term, especially since the older, more conservative sections of the public won't care or be more supportive of the banks here. It sucks but that's how the world is.
  - A4ET8a8uTh0 5y ago
    I mostly agree with analysis. I am not sure I agree with 'suddently' characterization. They are not suddenly OK with it. Founder complained to their peer at the financial institution. Onlyfans was probably trying to take care of it internally for a good while ( CYA applies at most financial institutions so it was taking longer than most businesses are used to ). It was only after media outburst that an executive decision was made. I am relatively certain that behind the scenes, the case of Onlyfans was argued by compliance, legal, PR, sales and their personal rep. "It's really surprising OnlyFans got as far as it did with adult content." I am not. You are not allowed to touch lgbtq+ community now. They are way too vocal and companies too scared to agitate them. And a fair amount of complaints came from them.
hhsbz 5y ago
This is never going to blow over. It is as if YouTube had a plan to disable video uploads.
- nickthemagicman 5y ago
  Funny. Onlyfans banning adult content is like Nike banning tennis shoes. We're a loafer company now!
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
adriancr 5y ago
They are probably looking for alternative payment methods. (coinbase payment processor and accept cryptocurrencies?) Or they got some guarantees from banks that they won't get banned. Their options are to die like tumbler or fight a bit. Moving away from traditional payment processors might cause problems for them as well.
- purple_ferret 5y ago
  >(coinbase payment processor and accept cryptocurrencies?) https://www.coinbase.com/legal/prohibited https://www.coinbase.com/legal/prohibited
  - adriancr 5y ago
    Oh damn... I wasn't expecting this from them... > Adult Content and Services: Pornography and other obscene materials (including literature, imagery and other media); ...
    - LudwigNagasena 5y ago
      Why would a service that desperately tries to get normalized shoot itself in the leg like that and allow something controversial?
      - d3nj4l 5y ago
        A lot of th epromise of crypto to a lot of enthusiasts is freedom - freedom from traditional oversight. This can be both good, like being able to send money to people in countries with awful currencies, or bad, like when you don't have regulations to protect people. So it is kind of disappointing to see Coinbase basically reinvent traditional banking but on the blockchain, because then, what's the point?
        fleddr 5y ago
        You don't need Coinbase to move crypto. Sex workers were some of the first to use Bitcoin as an alternative payment. Meaning, a direct wallet to wallet payment. However, some have indicated that it's not great. Many of their customers supposedly are drunk men. They greatly struggle to make the payment this way, and you can imagine that in this context it can't take too long, or the "mood" is gone.

"Suspended" aka they're waiting for all of this to blow over.

by d3nj4l 5y ago

"Suspended" aka they're waiting for all of this to blow over.

I think it's more likely that the banks and Mastercard that were pulling service to them freaked out about being trending topics for three days and agreed to reinstate everything.

wccrawford 5y ago
I have to think there must also be some requirement that OnlyFans work harder to prevent underage porn as well. Half the news I heard about this mentioned how much of it was on there.
- adjkant 5y ago
  While there may be some, it is worthwhile looking into where that news was coming from. Much of that push was coming from NCOSE, which is pretty much a literal puritanical force. They had success recently with Pornhub, and then moved to OnlyFans. NCOSE taking credit themselves for pressuring the payment processors: https://endsexualexploitation.org/articles/exploitation-website-onlyfans-forced-to-change-thanks-to-ncoses-work-with-payment-processors/ https://endsexualexploitation.org/articles/exploitation-webs... NCOSE is more or less using the "for the children" approach to try and stomp out all pronogrpahy generally. Their president "has helped draft ordinances to end or curb the impact of sexually oriented businesses such as pornography shops, strip clubs, and related establishments" according to their own website. Members of their board have founded and led pushes to ban and discourage all pornohprahy entirely. https://endsexualexploitation.org/about/staff/ https://endsexualexploitation.org/about/staff/ https://endsexualexploitation.org/about/board/ https://endsexualexploitation.org/about/board/ A critique on the Pornhub article / case, describing its reliance on evangelical groups: https://newrepublic.com/article/160488/nick-kristof-holy-war-pornhub https://newrepublic.com/article/160488/nick-kristof-holy-war... No doubt that some positive changes came in the Pornhub case, hence the significant lack of public pushback there. But I think their true goals are being exposed as they try to push further. Pushing on a platform that has become a key income source for many during a global pandemic was probably not the best idea for them in hindsight. It also got them a lot of public attention they probably didn't want, in good part due to a large voice and push over many recent months by sex workers, many of whom got a voice in articles in the media recently instead of only sources similar to NCOSE.
  - favorited 5y ago
    NCOSE is the renamed successor to the puritanical group "Morality in Media," which was literally founded by some Catholic priests to oppose everything from pornography to blasphemy in Monty Python films. They don't give a shit about children or sex trafficking– it's all about eliminating availability of things that the Religious Right deemed verboten in the 1960s.

spcebar 5y ago

IMO think the only worse PR nightmare than banning adult content on your adult content platform is reversing your reversal on that ban.

dougmwne 5y ago
I suppose? But then again it's hard to know what was going on behind the scenes. Did the CEO just save the company from their vendors bankrupting them in a daring display of finger pointing brinkmanship?
- sct202 5y ago
  Sometimes you just have to threaten to blow the whole business up before anyone goes to bat for you behind the scenes.
  - elliekelly 5y ago
    If this was actually the strategy behind the move I really admire management’s tenacity. I’m having a hard time connecting the dots as to how or why a bank/payment processor would suddenly reverse course on their decision because of the bad PR suffered by another company.

A4ET8a8uTh0 5y ago

Maybe? The timeline suggests that they got some sort of assurance from banks they work with, they will not not be bothered. Founder just blamed banks for the whole thing the other day. https://people.com/human-interest/onlyfans-founder-says-banks-are-to-blame-for-pornography-ban-we-had-no-choice/ https://people.com/human-interest/onlyfans-founder-says-bank...

d3nj4l 5y ago
I struggle to imagine any bank suddenly deciding they're OK with adult content after all. Apart from the moral outrage risks (like the ones OnlyFans itself has been facing wrt the literal kids on their platform), they don't want to accidentally run afoul of sex trafficking laws either. There's just too many risks in adult content. It's really surprising OnlyFans got as far as it did with adult content. Plus, something like a small company blaming banks is everyday business for those banks. It won't hurt their PR much in the long term, especially since the older, more conservative sections of the public won't care or be more supportive of the banks here. It sucks but that's how the world is.
- A4ET8a8uTh0 5y ago
  I mostly agree with analysis. I am not sure I agree with 'suddently' characterization. They are not suddenly OK with it. Founder complained to their peer at the financial institution. Onlyfans was probably trying to take care of it internally for a good while ( CYA applies at most financial institutions so it was taking longer than most businesses are used to ). It was only after media outburst that an executive decision was made. I am relatively certain that behind the scenes, the case of Onlyfans was argued by compliance, legal, PR, sales and their personal rep. "It's really surprising OnlyFans got as far as it did with adult content." I am not. You are not allowed to touch lgbtq+ community now. They are way too vocal and companies too scared to agitate them. And a fair amount of complaints came from them.

hhsbz 5y ago

This is never going to blow over. It is as if YouTube had a plan to disable video uploads.

nickthemagicman 5y ago
Funny. Onlyfans banning adult content is like Nike banning tennis shoes. We're a loafer company now!
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

adriancr 5y ago

They are probably looking for alternative payment methods. (coinbase payment processor and accept cryptocurrencies?) Or they got some guarantees from banks that they won't get banned. Their options are to die like tumbler or fight a bit. Moving away from traditional payment processors might cause problems for them as well.

purple_ferret 5y ago
>(coinbase payment processor and accept cryptocurrencies?) https://www.coinbase.com/legal/prohibited https://www.coinbase.com/legal/prohibited
- adriancr 5y ago
  Oh damn... I wasn't expecting this from them... > Adult Content and Services: Pornography and other obscene materials (including literature, imagery and other media); ...
  - LudwigNagasena 5y ago
    Why would a service that desperately tries to get normalized shoot itself in the leg like that and allow something controversial?
    - d3nj4l 5y ago
      A lot of th epromise of crypto to a lot of enthusiasts is freedom - freedom from traditional oversight. This can be both good, like being able to send money to people in countries with awful currencies, or bad, like when you don't have regulations to protect people. So it is kind of disappointing to see Coinbase basically reinvent traditional banking but on the blockchain, because then, what's the point?
      - fleddr 5y ago
        You don't need Coinbase to move crypto. Sex workers were some of the first to use Bitcoin as an alternative payment. Meaning, a direct wallet to wallet payment. However, some have indicated that it's not great. Many of their customers supposedly are drunk men. They greatly struggle to make the payment this way, and you can imagine that in this context it can't take too long, or the "mood" is gone.