OnlyFans is on everyone’s lips: whether in rap music lyrics, on social media, in articles and documentaries. OnlyFans attracts customers with everything from fitness tips to exclusive music content: the range of offers is huge. However, probably the most well-known use of the platform is the sharing of erotic and pornographic content. While this is often trivialized and young women on other social media platforms are recruited as new, promising models, there is a dark side: behind the glittering surfaces of supposed financial freedom and creative self-determination, there are dark abysses of sexual exploitation on OnlyFans.
But what is actually behind this platform?
OnlyFans is a social platform on which creators have the opportunity to present a wide variety of content. The payment function plays a particularly important role here. Fans can buy exclusive photo and video material or direct contact with the creators.
Since its foundation in 2016, OnlyFans has rapidly developed into a well-known and profitable platform in recent years. The coronavirus years have led to an enormous upswing. There are 300 million users online every month and 3.2 million content creators on the platform. OnlyFans retains 20% of all revenue from its creators. In 2022, the platform generated revenue of 1.09 billion US dollars.
OnlyFans promises financial freedom and high income through direct payments from fans. The well-known “OnlyFans stars” proudly show how they can earn many thousands of euros a month and afford a life of luxury. For many people, especially young women, this is a tempting prospect. They see it as a way to earn quick money or as a way out of financial difficulties. However, the pressure to share more and more explicit content can quickly lead to a spiral that is difficult to stop.
In the context of sexual exploitation on OnlyFans, so-called OnlyFans agencies and managers are playing an increasingly important role. These seem to have been proliferating for some time now, as men have discovered the lucrative business with women as commodities.
OnlyFans agencies recruit young women with the promise of a “gold rush effect”, suggesting that success is just a click away. They often contact potential models via social networks such as Instagram using fake profiles. They advertise with slogans such as “We create the stars of tomorrow” and promise career opportunities even without nudity. Typical messages include compliments and offers. They offer comprehensive support and guidance, from increasing reach, pricing, inspiration for content to marketing and fan communication.
But once the women are on board, it becomes clear that the agencies exert a disturbing amount of control over their models. Agencies give detailed instructions on how the models should present themselves in order to be successful. They help with texting, posing and replying to emails. Often the managers run the entire account, while the models provide the pictures and videos. The managers even do the chatting with the fans. They think they are having dirty talk with the “sexy model” while in reality they are texting with a man whose goal is to increase his profits.
Most of the founders of OnlyFans agencies are young, seemingly wealthy men. They know how men think and can therefore specifically control how women have to sell themselves in order to be successful. These agencies keep a high percentage of the profits and often exploit the models. They put considerable pressure on their clients to produce more and more explicit content in order to maximize revenue. In many cases, these agencies can act much like pimps, taking control over the lives and decisions of the creators.
Some agencies go even further and use questionable business practices to further exploit the models. These include falsifying models’ identities and manipulating their earnings. They systematically use emotional dependency to further control and exploit the models. This can lead to extreme psychological stress and a severe restriction of the models’ personal freedom.
There are now even online courses and networks that train men to become successful “OnlyFans Managers”. They are taught how to set up and run such an agency. One focus is on the emotional dependency of women, with courses that show how to “imprison a soul” and exploit women by falsifying income, for example.
Despite some public outcry and reports about exploitation on OnlyFans by agencies and managers, measures to regulate and protect models are often inadequate. Some creators are now taking public action against exploitation and the questionable business models of agencies. There are reports of extreme (emotional) pressure, gagging contracts and manipulated earnings. But many of those affected remain trapped in an opaque system that exploits their financial dependency.
As on other porn platforms, users on OnlyFans can never be sure whether the content was created voluntarily, under duress or in the context of abuse.
Videos showing sexual violence against women and bearing the OnlyFans logo can easily be found on social media.
In the red-light scene, we have personally spoken to young women who got into prostitution via OnlyFans and are now working on the streets.
The psychological effects of sexual exploitation on OnlyFans can be devastating. The constant self-objectification and reduction to one’s own body and sexual attractiveness can lead to deep psychological scars. Those affected often report depression, anxiety and a greatly diminished sense of self-worth. Added to this is the fear of social stigmatization if their own activities become public knowledge.
Although OnlyFans gives users the opportunity to control and monetize their content themselves, the platform often operates in a legal grey area. In many countries, there are no clear regulations to protect those who produce erotic content. This opens the door to exploitation and abuse. Although the platform itself takes precautions to block underage users and illegal content, the effectiveness of these measures is often inadequate.
OnlyFans stands for the sexualization of women and the financial gain from women’s bodies. This often shapes a contemptuous image of women among (young) men.
Young girls thus grow up in a society in which many of their role models portray sexualized behaviour as normal. Education and awareness play a key role in informing young people about the risks and dangers and showing them alternatives.
While OnlyFans aims to be the safest platform in the world, it turns out to be the perfect platform for external agencies that have exploitation and the opposite of freedom and self-determination as their business model.
It is important that both platforms like OnlyFans and society as a whole take action to combat sexual exploitation. This includes stricter monitoring and regulation of such platforms as well as protection and support for those who are victims of exploitation.
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