WASHINGTON, DC – On Tuesday, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) commended Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO), along with 101 members of Congress, for calling for a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into OnlyFans for potential criminality as a marketplace for child sexual abuse material (“CSAM”).

For months, OnlyFans has been closely scrutinized by lawmakers as a slippery slope for kids, ranging from ages 5 and 17 years old. Despite OnlyFans’ policy of not allowing children onto the platform, one Homeland Security Investigations agent begs to differ, finding kids ranging from 5-17, who understand how to monetize platforms like OnlyFans.

“Content creators go through an age verification process, set up their own individual account, create their own content, and make money based on how much they charge and the number of subscribers they attract,” a representative of OnlyFans said.

Laughable at most, this is nothing new – as we’ve heard the exact same statements from platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and others who seem to have these verification mechanisms in place that “accidentally” let unauthorized users into the platform. Platforms like these often serve as the breeding grounds for child sexual abuse, which makes social media all the more dangerous without the proper regulation.

“Little kids run around the house naked and they think it’s funny and that’s one of the ways the offenders can groom these children on sites like OnlyFans,” the Special Agent said.

“That child has now been compromised because the offender then threatens to send those images to dad or mom or to school or to their friends,” he added. And right he is – these platforms afford predators the ability to “whet their appetites,” forever ruining the reputation of children who just don’t appreciate the long-term consequences of putting themselves on a platform like this.

“With the rise in child sexual abuse material online, the U.S. Department of Justice should investigate the growing number of reports by law enforcement and child safety organizations that minors are being sold on OnlyFans,” said Dawn Hawkins, CEO of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, in an email to PopWrapped.

“Instances of sex trafficking and image-based abuse through OnlyFans is also coming to light. Like the other major companies in the commercial sex industry – Pornhub, XVideos, Xhamster – OnlyFans preys and profits from abuse and exploitation of vulnerable people, and potential criminality must be investigated.”

OnlyFans is a rising content subscription service based in the United Kingdom, which allows content creators to earn money from users who subscribe to their content, e.g. the “fans.” Content creators are able to receive funding directly from their fans on a monthly basis, as well as one-time tips and the pay-per-view (PPV) feature.

The platform’s subscribers, according to The New York Times, are “mostly male; straight, gay and beyond” where they pay models and social media influencers a fee, ranging from $5 to $20 a month. “With that access, subscribers can also direct message and ‘tip’ to get pictures or videos created on-demand, according to their sexual tastes.”

However, the platform has arguably changed the game for sex workers and adult entertainment. From the late 1990s to the early 2000s, the porn industry was based primarily in the San Fernando Valley of California, but slowly disappeared due to the lack of capital or political connections to sue extremely threatening competitors.

While OnlyFans has seen an incremental rise in popularity, its longevity is threatened by more than just technical issues. Remember, OnlyFans makes money off the vulnerable people’s bodies – especially the bodies of women and minors. Exploiting financial insecurities deepened by the COVID-19 pandemic, OnlyFans promises fast cash, empowerment, and even fame. The problem, however, is that while the app allows for Fans to pay fees for nude images, videos, and livestreams – it is the pscyhological, emotional, and physical harm that we need to be concerned about on behalf of the creators, which the sex and adult entertainment industry seems to embrace so deeply.

Currently, OnlyFans is on NCOSE’s 2021 Dirty Dozen List of mainstream contributors to sexual exploitation. NCOSE was founded in 1962 as the nation’s now leading national non-partisan organization exposing the links between all forms of sexual exploitation such as child sexual abuse, prostitution, sex trafficking, and the public health harms of pornography.

Lina Nealon, Director of Corporate and Strategic Initiatives for the National Center on Sexual Exploitation sat down for an exclusive interview with PopWrapped to discuss the dangers platforms like OnlyFans present to minors.

“One mistake on the internet can unfortunately, alter someone’s life,” Nealon told PopWrapped. “Young people don’t fully understand the consequences of high-risk behavior, such as ‘sexting’ or posting nude images online. Not only are such actions considered child sex abuse material and are a crime, but we know that predators and other opportunists can use these obtained nude images to groom, extort, and blackmail minors.”Lina Nealon, Director of Corporate and Strategic Initiatives for the National Center on Sexual Exploitation

Nealon also pointed to several cases where images were stolen from OnlyFans (and other social media sites), where those images ultimately ended up share on other pornography sites. 

“Once an image is on the internet, it is extremely difficult to remove, often causing more trauma and damage throughout a person’s life.”

In response to these claims, OnlyFans reached out via email to PopWrapped, stating that “any claim that OnlyFans does not report CSAM is patently false.”

In its emailed statement to PopWrapped, Ami Gan, head of communications at OnlyFans shared:

“OnlyFans has a zero tolerance policy relating to child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on our social media platform. We use state of the art technology including Safer (Thorn), Microsoft PhotoDNA, Sight Engine and proprietary technology alongside our human moderation teams to monitor and review all content. This is a robust system that works to identify, escalate and report illegal material swiftly. Any claim that OnlyFans does not report CSAM is patently false.”Ami Gan, Communications at OnlyFans

False Sense of Empowerment?

The question that must be asked is whether sites like OnlyFans will follow in the same footsteps as other notorious platforms such as Backpage, which was eventually shut down by the U.S. Department of Justice. 

The problem with todays’ platforms is the mechanisms they have in place (or lack thereof) are incredibly weak and there just to say it’s there. The majority of security mechanisms that companies like Alphabet’s Google and YouTube have been under scrutiny for years, for potential COPPA violations, quickly implementing new mechanisms to ensure content is marked appropriately for younger users and minors. 

“The insufficient age verification process makes it incredibly easy for minors to get on these sites and sell self-generated child sex abuse material,” Nealon explained. “Fans or subscribers merely have to check a box indicating they’re over 18,” allowing for easy access to the platform.

Protecting Our Youth

Contrary to popular belief, when it comes to the dissemination of pornography, the First Amendment protects soft pornography. However, child pornography is not protected under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, simply because it is documented evidence of a crime that the minor can not fully appreciate. 

For this reason, it is a crime to merely create, hold, possess, distribute, or otherwise disseminate any nude image or video of a minor, including their engagement in sexual conduct. It is within the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Justice (US DOJ) to prosecute and act on our nation’s current obscenity laws. 

“We need legislators to implement stricter accountability measures for sites like OnlyFans,” Nealon stressed. “If we just keep going after one exploitative site after the other, it’s like playing whack-a-mole. By and large, neither big tech nor big porn are regulated to the extent that they should be given the potential for harm – creating environments ripe for abuse by predators. We need greater oversight and regulation of these two industries to stem the proliferation of sexual abuse and exploitation that we’re witnessing at unparalleled levels in history.”

Stressing its compliance with U.S. law, Gan said OnlyFans has always and “immediately reported all incidents of CSAM to NCMEC’s Cyber Tipline”, expressing the company’s willingness to explore “new collaborations and partnerships” to help improve the user-interface to help minimize and identify all bad actors:

“OnlyFans is compliant with US law and all laws and regulations in the countries we operate, all incidents of CSAM are immediately reported to NCMEC’s Cyber Tipline, and when appropriate, reports are made by a specialist team to the relevant enforcement agency,” Gan emphasized. “We work in full cooperation with law enforcement authorities, regulators, NGOs and policymakers to combat this type of abuse and are open to new collaborations and partnerships which would improve this worldwide effort to identify and penalize all bad actors.”

Nealon says that for concerned parents, they are always welcome to reach out ot NCOSE for support and resources on any aspect of sexual abuse and exploitation. “Parents should speak early and often to their children about pornography, child sex abuse, online safety, and how to protect themselves…for those caregivers who discovers their minor child has an account with OnlyFans, make sure to take screenshots of the account for evidence, but to avoid taking any screenshots of child sex abuse material, as you can inadvertently put yourself in a position to be prosecuted. The account should also be reported to the National Center on Missing and Exploited Children, who can counsel parents/caregivers on further action and assist with notifying appropriate law enforcement.”

For more information on sexual exploitation, please visit www.EndSexualExploitation.org. You can send emails with your concerns to the U.S. Department of Justice, state attorneys general, and major credit card companies.

Updated: This article was updated as of 4:54pm CST with additional statements by NCOSE and OnlyFans. This article now reflects those individual statements emailed to PopWrapped.