OnlyFans shares new TOS for “sexually explicit conduct”: no intercourse, masturbation, exhibition of genitals; any such content must be removed before Dec. 1
Sex and masturbation, whether simulated or real, aren't allowed — On Thursday the video and image sharing site …
The VergeRichard Lawler
Context & Ripple Effects
The new terms land days after OnlyFans announced an October start date for its 'sexually explicit conduct' prohibition — with the carve-out that nude photos and videos remain allowed — and the same day a widely shared thread pinned the reversal on Mastercard rules taking effect October 1 that make hosting such content prohibitively expensive for the platform.
That matters because explicit content is not adjacent to OnlyFans's business, it is the business: the Dec. 1 removal deadline forces the company to strip out the core product its paying subscriber base signed up for, while keeping only the nude-but-not-explicit tier its card network will still process.
First-order effects
Creators must delete all intercourse, masturbation, and genitals-exposure content before Dec. 1 or face removal under the updated terms, leaving them with only non-explicit nudity as a monetizable format.
OnlyFans immediately converts its most valuable inventory — explicit material — into dead weight, while any rival willing to host it becomes the default destination for displaced creators and subscribers.
Second-order effects
Competing subscription platforms gain a forced migration wave of top earners and their audiences, pressuring them to prove they can secure payment processing where OnlyFans could not.
Pricing and payout terms across the creator-subscription market get re-cut around card-network compliance costs, since whoever absorbs those costs sets the fee floor for everyone else.
Third-order effects
If the Mastercard-compliance pattern holds, card networks become the de facto regulators of what adult platforms may host — payment access, not law or platform preference, drawing content lines.
The broader signal is platforms converging on stricter sexual-content policies regardless of category: Twitch had already tightened its own rules again by 2024, banning streamers who imply partial or full nudity (Twitch re-tightens its sexual content policy).
The trend: Payment networks are becoming the binding regulator of adult content online, forcing creator platforms to trade their core product for processing access.
Specifically, look at line 5d in the new acceptable use policy. https://onlyfans.com/aup That pretty much rules out all I do there on OF with the exception of my selfies. So yeah. Not much use for OF anymore.
OnlyFans shows Visa and Mastercard are ‘choke-points’ of online speech “OnlyFans' decision to ban sexually explicit content raises questions about credit card processors' power.” @issielapowsky for @protocol https://www.protocol.com/...
Wish this OnlyFans thing had come up this summer because it would have been such fascinating fodder for my entertainment law course: https://www.protocol.com/...
So, they're behaving like a cartel and should be broken up? >> OnlyFans shows Visa and Mastercard are ‘choke-points’ of online speech https://www.protocol.com/...
Just in case there was confusion with the entire OnlyFans situation, here is what's NOT acceptable, clearly stated in their new policies that will apply Oct 1st Number 5 Section b. https://www.onlyfans.com/aup https://twitter.com/...
OnlyFans shares new TOS for “sexually explicit conduct”: no intercourse, masturbation, exhibition of genitals; any such content must be removed before Dec. 1 So where will the xxx content creators move to? https://www.theverge.com/...
People are still trying to tell me that Onlyfans isn't banning porn. Boys, I'm sorry, but they are. Here is the email they sent me and every other model on their platform last night. Here are the new terms: https://www.onlyfans.com/aup https://twitter.com/...
Just like I predicted yesterday, the new OnlyFans TOS defines “nudes” as boobs. It's ironically even more restrictive than the Skinamax analogy I drew yesterday. Lol. Bye OF. You killed yourself. https://www.theverge.com/...
uh, ya, so I'm pretty sure the #OnlyFans outrage is total fake news. Doesn't look like anything is changing for probably like 99.95% of users. Here is the terms of use that can't be violated: https://onlyfans.com/...
OnlyFans deprecating adult content is handing the crypto community a product *and* a HUGE market on a silver platter. What more could they want from an opportunity to prove the potential of cryptocurrency?
NEW: For the doubters that OnlyFans was abandoning its adult creators, an update to the Terms Of Service outline exactly what is now forbidden and defines “sexually explicit conduct”: https://twitter.com/...
I too, just received the OnlyFans email with the new terms snd conditions. Yes my content is safe, but so many others will be hugely affected by this. My heart breaks 💔 ...and who knows when the terms will change again? Maybe it's time I upgrade my website?
DEVASTATING NEWS. During the pandemic, many sex workers moved to the safety of online platforms to make ends meet - w/ many of them unable to access vital unemployment benefits. This move will only drive sex work back to unsafe underground conditions. https://www.theverge.com/...
What do you think it means, that a site committed to sexually explicit content that's legal and to protecting its creators, can't include sexually explicit material on its site and still have the financial infrastructure to protect its creators? https://www.theverge.com/...
When the OnlyFans pornography ban takes effect thousands of people will lose their primary source of income. This is absolutely devastating. https://www.theverge.com/...