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OnlyFans, a social media platform finest known for express content material, has boomed throughout the pandemic. But from receiving terrorism movies to racial abuse and rape threats, a BBC investigation based on the experiences of dozens of women reveals issues about how the British-run site is structured, managed and moderated.

Warning: Story accommodates grownup themes and language

Tina Bean had been living in her automobile for two months when she started promoting nude pictures of herself on OnlyFans.

The 22-yr-outdated had been kicked out of dwelling after a "large battle" and spent most of final summer season sleeping in car parks in the heat of Phoenix, Arizona.

Everybody else she knew was making "a hell of some huge cash" on the location. "So, I used to be like, I would as nicely just bounce on it."

She is without doubt one of the million content creators on OnlyFans who share photos and videos with subscribers for a monthly price. In return, the site takes 20% of their earnings.

Creators can submit a spread of content material from beauty to fitness videos, however it is broadly known for pornography.

Soon Tina was making $2,000 (£1,450) a month and in a position to rent her own flat.

But in January, a hacker seized management of her account, blackmailed her for $a hundred and fifty and uploaded streams of IS terror videos.

The footage, seen and verified by BBC News, depicts people being held hostage in warehouses, or operating in concern, earlier than being shot in the pinnacle.

"They seemed terrifying," she says. "I saved deleting them and changing my password however saved getting locked out of my account."

The perpetrator then spammed greater than forty of her fans, calling them the N-word, earlier than stealing all of her pictures and posting them on a porn site.

Tina says after a tortuous cycle of repeatedly being hacked over a month, she reported this to OnlyFans and briefly disabled her account. She has now lost practically all of her subscribers and earns just $one hundred a week - if she's lucky.

In a statement, OnlyFans said the account did not have two-factor authentication, which made it susceptible. The corporate mentioned Tina did not report the racial slur and it was not detected by the location's moderation system because it was pluralised.

It added that this system has now been upgraded and "in gentle of this specific incident", protocols have been up to date to ensure that any hacked account's content material is totally reviewed before entry is restored.

OnlyFans grew to become a cultural phenomenon during the pandemic, as lockdowns pushed people online to make and spend cash.

Founded by Essex businessman Tim Stokely in 2016, it has turn out to be one of the UK's quickest-rising tech platforms, with more than a hundred and twenty million users worldwide.

Celebrity endorsements and articles about atypical girls making life-altering quantities of money from promoting nudes has boosted its profile, and final 12 months the location handled funds value £1.7bn.

The social media platform allows creators to put content behind a paywall and cost a month-to-month subscription fee - which ranges from $4.99 to $49.Ninety nine - for access. Creators can high up their earnings by sharing unique pay-per-view posts and receiving ideas.

OnlyFans thrives on high engagement, and one among its big appeals is that creators and fans can build relationships through livestreams, personalised messages, and direct requests for custom-made photographs and videos.

Much of the content material is express - incomes it a reputation as the "paywall of porn" - and customers must be 18 or over to enroll.

But behind the glamour of how it's offered, the fact for some has been very different. Tina's experience highlights what creators and digital consultants describe as systemic issues with how OnlyFans is structured, managed, and moderated.

The BBC has interviewed dozens of creators within the UK and US, seen copies of complaints and correspondence with OnlyFans, and found:

- Terror movies, rape threats and racial abuse have been posted on the site previously yr in violation of its terms of service, as well as express photos of a scholar uploaded with out her consent
- Data safety experts have raised issues about the safety of the web site's server after creators had been hacked, or affected by glitches leading to nude photos of others appearing on their accounts
- OnlyFans' policy of granting automated refunds to followers who're blocked can perpetuate and incentivise abuse, according to creators
- The positioning has now adjusted its processes around closing creators' accounts after the BBC questioned why one had her page shut down without clarification, which resulted in it being restored
OnlyFans explicitly states on its web site that it is "not accountable" for moderating content material, or detecting breaches of the legislation or its policies, which incorporates bans on harassment and sharing unlawful or non-consensual photographs.

Nevertheless it informed the BBC that, whereas it was not legally obliged to proactively evaluation content on the platform, https://freefans.tv/ it goes "above and past" what present rules require by using group reporting and artificial intelligence software program to help keep customers secure.

The corporate says it evaluates over 300,000 media information a day, and has more than 500 brokers concerned in compliance and moderation. It said that every one flagged content material is reviewed on a case-by-case foundation.

Digital specialists have informed the BBC that artificial intelligence can be unreliable for porn, and OnlyFans needs more human moderators as express content is extra vulnerable to problems with abuse or copyright.

"The difference with OnlyFans is the way it's arrange," says Matt Navarra, a social media guide. "Due to the kind of content material, and the danger it potentially presents to extra vulnerable customers, the stakes are increased, and subsequently the level of accountability is larger as effectively."

'I'll hunt you down'

OnlyFans creators sell a fantasy - simply like the thousands and thousands of videos freely available on porn websites. Yet within the media, it has developed a repute as being house to the naughty woman subsequent door, who is extra accessible than professional grownup entertainers.

Tips for customised content can be profitable, and one 20-yr-old student, Charlie, mentioned she has obtained requests ranging from $50 for a video of her consuming a pizza, to $200 for one in all her masturbating with sex toys.

"It isn't about someone that is simply looking for a quick video, like on Pornhub," says Victoria-May, a mom-of-two from Northampton. "It's about relationship constructing."

Two years in the past, the 31-year-old stop her job as a trainee accountant to promote homemade pornography on the positioning. She says she has now made more than £1m.

But this hasn't come without difficulties, and she says setting boundaries with some of her "followers", who pay $30 a month to view her triple-X-rated pictures and videos, has led to a deluge of abuse, rape and loss of life threats.

She says that last summer time, a male subscriber threatened violence after she declined to have intercourse with him - and despatched messages to her OnlyFans account, together with:

"I know the place you reside.

"I will hunt you down.

"I'm going to kill your youngsters.

"I will rape you.

"I will make your husband watch me as I harm you, then I'll kill you.

"I hope all of your family get Covid and die."

When Victoria-May reported these threats, OnlyFans stated "rude messages" did not violate its guidelines and the subscribers' account wouldn't be eliminated. But as the company takes 20% of earnings, she feels it has a responsibility to take action.

The location then took six months to reply to more than 20 successive complaints - which were seen by the BBC - together with reviews of racial abuse directed at contributors in her videos.

OnlyFans said it dealt with Victoria-May's complaints "in a well timed manner" and that any fan reported and found to have been abusive is instantly faraway from the platform. It added that it only began to review and investigate suspicious key phrases in direct messages from April this 12 months.

'Obsessive behaviour'

Stalking, bullying and harassment is in opposition to OnlyFans' pointers and the site says breaches of this policy could lead to accounts being suspended or terminated.

For creators who do receive abuse, the location permits them to mute or block that fan. However, the platform routinely gives anyone who has been blocked - no matter the reason - a refund of their lively subscription.

Many creators who spoke to the BBC felt this policy was misused by followers and a few said it could incentivise them to be rude or provocative, as their month-to-month subscriptions come to an in depth. Others added this made them feel penalised for being mistreated.

"The refunds issued to abusive consumers should be re-evaluated," says SkylaRayne, 26, a creator from New York. "We're the ones placing the food on their tables. So, when I'm being harassed and insulted, I'd anticipate [OnlyFans] to permit me to block someone without them getting a refund. That's just naked minimum."

But creators say that blocked fans are capable of create new accounts and sign-as much as their pages once more.

This was the experience of Bell, a 23-yr-old mannequin from Manchester, who says she was harassed by a fan last yr who was requesting excessive content material in return for tips.

"It received very intense, so I decided to cut it off after six months," she recalls. "And so they reacted fairly badly to that - it was obsessive, obsessive behaviour.

"They were stalking me over a number of accounts, watching me by my friends' tales on Instagram, that they had quite a lot of me, so I used to be worried that they may use this towards me."

Bell reported the fan to OnlyFans three times and she says the site later suggested blocking him. But he continued to signal-as much as her page using a number of new accounts.

She informed the BBC her experience may have been better if OnlyFans had a reside chat operate, which would have enabled her considerations to be responded to right away.

The corporate says Bell was not willing to provide proof of any particular abuse. It mentioned that on all of the events the location was contacted by her, it replied promptly with advice and later blocked the IP address of the alleged abusive fan.

OnlyFans added that, as a subscription-based platform the place fans pay for entry and content material, it was "uniquely geared to dissuade and deter abusive behaviour from users" as a result of, not like nameless social media, it might swiftly identify and remove them.

Find out more

OnlyFans is failing to stop underage customers from selling and showing in specific videos, in line with a BBC investigation. Under-18s have used faux identification to set up accounts, and police say a 14-yr-old used her grandmother's passport.

The kids selling explicit movies on OnlyFans

Leaks, hackings and glitches

For many creators, the appeal of the site is that photographs and movies are locked behind a paywall.

Pirating content material is prohibited, and in opposition to OnlyFans' phrases of service. But nearly all the creators spoken to said their photos had been leaked and traded by males in different social media and messaging boards.

Some told the BBC their images had been maliciously sent to relations, or that they had been blackmailed into sharing nudes without spending a dime or instructed they could be made public.

"Persons are naively lulled into a false sense of safety from the paywall, that what's behind it stays behind it," says Honza Cervenka, a lawyer in the UK specialising in picture-based sexual abuse at McAllister Olivarius.

"Legally, content creators give OnlyFans a licence for their content but they keep the copyright," he says. "That leaves the first duty to treatment a leak on content creators, which may be a tough, lengthy and expensive authorized course of."

Risks of being on OnlyFans may also include knowledge protection breaches and hackings, in keeping with creators who shared screenshots about the safety of the positioning.

BBC News found that at totally different times some creators have faced "glitches" which have resulted in other peoples' pictures appearing on their accounts.

Kandii Kitten, 26, was a kind of affected, and said a picture of a man holding his penis had been posted on her page when she had tried to add a nude photograph.

Another creator, Katja Miyatovich, was hacked while using the platform in May, despite having two-issue authentication safety enabled to stop this.

As she was logged-in when it was taking place, the 27-12 months-old from Canada was able to rapidly regain access. She shared the email alerting her to the unidentified access to her account with BBC News.

"That is extraordinarily disturbing and definitely a personal information breach," says Rowenna Fielding, an information protection guide. "Indubitably that [hacking] should have been investigated and reported to the data Commissioner's Office."

Tim Turner, who additionally specialises in data protection, agrees and stated that because Katja was hacked regardless of having two-issue authentication, and these glitches were not a one-off fault, it raises questions about the security of OnlyFans' server.

He added that OnlyFans ought to consider making two-issue authentication necessary for creators on the platform given the intimate nature of the content.

In response, OnlyFans says Katja's account may have been accessed by someone with entry to her linked Twitter account and telephone quantity, and says it suggested her to utilise the authenticator app as an alternative of SMS verification.

It additionally stated it runs a significant takedown group to assist creators remove leaked content, with a 75% success rate, and now works with third-get together providers to proactively locate, determine and take away stolen content material.

The location added it was "very conscious of its obligations below information protection laws" and as with all online platforms, there are generally system points and incidents, which can or will not be data breaches. It mentioned it investigates and reviews them as appropriate.

'My photos were bought with out consent'

Madison, a 22-12 months-old scholar from Texas, discovered that her former roommate had been promoting topless photographs of her on OnlyFans for almost four months final year with out her information.

As images on the site are hidden behind a paywall, she had solely discovered after her photos have been cross-promoted on Twitter to drive visitors to the account.

What had began as a evening of taking part in around and taking what she describes as "sexy footage" along with her friends of their dorm, ended along with her being exploited and the Polaroids falsely marketed as lesbian content material.

Her "gut sank" on the realisation as she scanned by means of the pictures on OnlyFans, which had been seen by the BBC. "I like women who like girls," one post read, while one other encouraged $5 suggestions.

"When I feel about what she did, it stays with you, that you got used, that she violated me," she mentioned.

OnlyFans' pointers ban creators from sharing intimate photos without permission and requires any users making content material featuring other people to have written proof of their consent, or says they should even be registered creators.

However the BBC understands proof of consent is only requested if an account is flagged or reported, which relies on individuals being aware that their photos are on the location.

"OnlyFans in a single day turned one in all the largest cowboys in the wild wild West of the [unregulated] porn industry," says Kate Isaacs, who campaigns in opposition to picture-primarily based sexual abuse, often known as revenge porn.

"But sadly the lack of moderation on the location and guaranteeing its technology is robust enough to protect people who select to place their content material on there's just critically lagging behind."

Digital consultants say OnlyFans may deploy more sophisticated, automated know-how whereby creators are required to submit recorded proof of consent at the purpose of upload to proactively stop this due to the added difficulties the paywall presents for neighborhood moderation.

Madison's pictures were deleted by her ex-roommate after she reported the incident, final May, to state police, who confirmed an investigation is underneath method. She is now considering taking authorized motion in opposition to the creator.

Despite having breached the company's policies, BBC News found the alleged perpetrator remains to be utilizing OnlyFans beneath a distinct pseudonym.

OnlyFans stated it uses proprietary software program as well as handbook opinions inside its content material moderation system to monitor and handle compliance with its phrases and situations.

OnlyFans' place in the porn world became more outstanding after fee providers Mastercard and Visa ended their relationship with PornHub following allegations of unlawful content final yr. Lots of its performers relocated to OnlyFans.

Brian Honigman, a advertising marketing consultant and adjunct professor at New York University, said OnlyFans should over-commit to moderation to safeguard its user base.

"And at the tip of the day, this does protect your long-term potential to generate revenue and be a worthwhile enterprise," he says.

"The subscription mannequin is nice, and the paywall is nice when used accurately, however it's essential that platforms like OnlyFans be certain that they're being utilized in a manner that results in optimistic impacts."

Many of the creators who spoke to BBC News nonetheless use OnlyFans and say, financially a minimum of, it has transformed their lives. But they have spoken out in the hope it might result in them receiving higher help.