OnlyFans: gold mine for agencies | tagesschau.de

Celebrities, models, porn actresses – on OnlyFans they offer their content from their homes. Does the platform really make sex work safe and self-determined? SWR research show how agencies infiltrate the business.

Since it was founded in 2016, the OnlyFans platform has offered users the opportunity to follow and contact celebrities. They subscribe to be close to them and get exclusive content. A concept that erotic models and porn actors in particular have been using since the beginning of the corona pandemic to distribute their content.

Since the platform’s existence, a business model has evolved around it. Part of this are external management agencies that offer advice to models. Many of these agencies offer the prospect of being able to earn horrendous sums of money without much effort under their guidance and to be able to gain large audiences within a few weeks. OnlyFans “content creators” assign 20 percent of the generated revenue to the platform as a monthly commission. research of SWR investigative format VOLLBILD now show that some of the agencies charge high commissions of up to two-thirds for their services.

“Password changed, everything erased”

VOLLBILD has met several models who are or were under contract with OnlyFans agencies. They reported border crossing and financial exploitation by the agencies. In the interview, “content creator” Laura reports that she was pushed to take action when shooting erotic videos. When she terminated the contract, the agency took her account away from her. “Changed the password, deleted everything and then gave this account to someone else,” said the 20-year-old. To date, she has not received her account. Since she did not want to give the name of her former agency to VOLLBILD, they could not be confronted with the allegations.

A former “OnlyFans creator” who goes by the name of Roxie recounts network meetings where she was pressured into making pornographic videos that hadn’t previously been agreed upon. “Because the camera was already rolling and there was also a booked film person, I did some things that I hadn’t agreed beforehand. As is so often the case, it has to be said…”. She still suffers from the psychological damage from her time at OnlyFans. That is why, according to her own statements, she is currently unable to work and lives on basic security.

No political claim

According to the media scientist Lisa Andergassen, the platform boom was accompanied by a veritable “gold rush mood”, from which the agencies were also founded. “OnlyFans is always described as feminist,” says the expert. “It’s a business model. There’s absolutely no awareness or political claim whatsoever that could be called feminist.” On the other hand, the platform can offer sex workers security because they can produce their content from home.

OnlyFans was founded by the British Timothy Stokely and experienced a boom in 2020 with the corona pandemic. By 2021, the number of users had increased by almost 130 percent to almost 200 million. Stars like the American rapper Cardi B or the German celebrity couple Michael Wendler and Laura Müller offer their paid content there.

On their website, OnlyFans writes: “We are committed to building the most secure digital media platform in the world.” OnlyFans did not answer the question of how the company acts against exploitative agencies when asked by VOLLBILD. From a legal point of view, creators are responsible for the content they distribute, according to OnlyFans. There is hardly any protection provided by the platform.

The film on the subject is available at www.youtube.de/vollbild and in the ARD media library.