The BBC is wrong about OnlyFans

As the cost-of-living crisis bites and a recession looms, women are once again being fed a dangerous message: that the sex trade might be a great place to make money. In an article on the BBC website, OnlyFans has been cited as a lucrative way for attractive youngsters to top up their income. 

Soaring prices have, we are told by the BBC, 'led to a rise in young people posting sexual content for money'. The report cites as an example Alexia, a 20-year-old, who posts pictures and videos of herself on the internet. The BBC says her '9-5 salary is now dwarfed by the earnings she makes from her online presence.' It goes on:

'Since she started, she has managed to gain thousands of followers and says posting on the site earns her more than £3,000 a month. Without the extra income, she says she'd still be living at home with her mum.'

If it sounds too good to be true, then it is. Despite what parts of the BBC's report might lead some young people to think, this isn't easy money. Although a small number of men also do what Alexia is doing, this is about women being exploited. 

The English Collective of Prostitutes, which campaigns for the blanket decriminalisation of the sex trade, suggests that more women are ending up selling sex due to poverty. But while money is undoubtedly a key driver for some, women would not be driven to do so were it not for exploiters looking to make an easy buck off them, whether they be pimps, drug dealers, abusive boyfriends or brothel owners. OnlyFans, which says that 'creator and fan safety are a top priority', also exploits women. Although it claims that the site is a 'safe space' to 'share digital content' and make money, the reality can be rather different. 

Last year, a BBC investigation found that children as young as 14 were being exploited on the site. One teenager told a counsellor she had been on OnlyFans since she was 13. 

'I don't wanna talk about the types of pictures I post on there and I know it's not appropriate for kids my age to be doing this, but it's an easy way to make money,' she said. 

OnlyFans says it has a ‘zero tolerance policy relating to child sexual abuse material’, but does it know for sure that underage people are not using its site?

Last summer, OnlyFans took the welcome step of saying it would ban pornographic content altogether from the site. But the website soon caved after pro-prostitution lobbyists claimed this was a terrible thing for the content creators (as opposed to the punters). Shortly after its initial announcement, OnlyFans said it would continue to host explicit material. This U-turn appears to be a clear example of corporate greed: it suggests the idea that 'creators' are prioritised over punters is fanciful at best.

All of this makes it baffling to think why the BBC is giving OnlyFans a platform and suggesting it might be a straightforward way for young people to make ends meet.

Alexia might be right that without the money she makes on OnlyFans she would still be living with her mum. But there still can be a high price to pay for selling sexually explicit content on the internet. 

I've interviewed young women who told me how seeing pornographic footage of themselves online induced panic attacks and low self-esteem, even leading, in some cases, to self-harm. Several told me they had not realised how many punters post pornographic content on their own social media, and share it on sites such as Pornhub.

OnlyFans often gets off the hook because the women who use the site are selling images and videos of themselves rather than directly selling sex. But is there much of a difference between pornography and prostitution? I'm not convinced there is. And is it any safer? The screen between the punter and the content creator does offer some degree of separation, but it is worryingly easy for men to track down women.

The sex trade comes in many guises, and online sites can be dressed up as harmless fun. But the experience of women who use websites such as OnlyFans can still be rather bleak. Content creators have spoken of pressure from punters to provide increasingly pornographic content in order to boost numbers of subscribers, and to hold on to the ones they have. This means they are pressurised and coerced into performing sex acts, such as dressing in schoolgirl uniforms while being penetrated by objects, as one woman I interviewed was persuaded to do by a subscriber.

It's time to stop making excuses for OnlyFans, pretending it offers a solution to hardship. Selling images of yourself online may be a quick fix, but ultimately is of benefit only to the exploiters and profiteers. The BBC should be ashamed of itself for giving OnlyFans this platform.