OnlyFans, the online subscription platform known for adult content, has scrapped its planned policy that would have prohibited users from posting any material containing "sexually explicit conduct."
The sudden reversal, less than a week after the company first announced the ban, is good news for a community of sex workers who have turned to OnlyFans to safely earn money online during the pandemic.
But it also demonstrates the fragility of the so-called creator economy, which has allowed content creators to earn money directly from fans.
"We have secured assurances necessary to support our diverse creator community and have suspended the planned October 1 policy change," the company tweeted.
The company did not immediately respond to questions for more detail about the "secured assurances", Reuters reported.
The announcement comes after a tumultuous week in which the London-based company said it would begin prohibiting explicit content in October to comply with the requests of its banking partners and payment providers.
Critics quickly accused OnlyFans of turning its back on creators and sex workers who helped the site expand aggressively. Some compared it to KFC banishing chicken.
An OnlyFans creator who decried the platform's porn ban on social media, noting it had built its business and wealth based on catering to sex workers before ditching them, has welcomed the reversal.
Twitter user sleepisocialist, who has over 100 posts and 10,000 likes on OnlyFans feels that some level of compensation is due, though.
"All of the sex workers who’ve lost an incredible amount of subscribers/income after Onlyfans’ previous announcement should be compensated," she tweeted.
"My content isn’t even sexually explicit and I still lost after that announcement. I can’t imagine what it looked like for those whose content was targeted. Glad that they reversed their ban, but they need to make it right."
Brian Gross, a publicist and president of BSG PR who represents several adult stars who use OnlyFans, including Maitland Ward and Charlotte Stokely, said OnlyFans' ban reversal is "obviously good news" for creators, but the rapid about-face has caused "trepidation and nervousness."
"There's always a chance [OnlyFans] can implement the policy again," he said. "I think everyone has to keep one eye open."
The situation has underscored the need for creators to diversify and maintain a presence on several platforms, Gross said.
OnlyFans, which was founded in 2016 and has 130 million users, boomed during the pandemic as it became one way for creators to earn money by selling content directly to paying subscribers.
The company sought to raise funding at a US$1 billion valuation, according to a Bloomberg report, but despite its rapid growth, struggled to attract investors due to its image as a platform for users to sell sexually explicit content.
In an interview with the Financial Times, OnlyFans founder Tim Stokely said the company was forced to ban pornography on the site and blamed "unfair" treatment by banks that made it difficult for the company to pay content creators.
