Pornography
CARE: 'OnlyFans must be fully investigated'
ADULT streaming platform OnlyFans must be fully investigated by authorities given fears about the abuse of women and girls, CARE has said.
An investigation by The Mirror published today found that 1,000 alleged crimes linked to OnlyFans have been reported to police in the last five years.
These include cases of women being exploited by controlling partners, examples of revenge porn and sexual content posted without permission.
CARE points to wider evidence of human trafficking and the abuse of children and teenagers on the site.
Reacting to the news, Tim Cairns, CARE’s policy lead on online safety, commented:
“OnlyFans is often held up by regulators as a model for how adult content should be delivered. The platform itself portrays itself as safe, empowering, and the socially acceptable face for posting self-created porn. Only Fans claims to be the ‘nicer, kinder platform’ where creators can express their ‘authentic selves.’ These claims could not be further from reality.
“In both the UK and North America, police reports show that OnlyFans is a crime scene. Rape, coercion, extreme pornography, and revenge porn have all been witnessed. Women are often coerced and controlled to post material by men who are abusing them.”
Mr Cairns also noted evidence the platform involves trafficking, yet won't allow authorities to investigate concerns fully. He said:
“Evidence of modern slavery and human trafficking on the platform is also alarming, and its scale is hard to determine as access is behind a paywall and the site owners refuse to give authorities access. If OnlyFans is about ‘empowering’ woman, why not be transparent?
“In one trafficking case, a school administrator and her husband ran a trafficking ring on OnlyFans, involving multiple women across the US. Several OnlyFans profiles were registered to one email address and IP. This was not picked up by OnlyFans security and screening.”
Alarmingly, the platform has also been accused of failing to verify the age of users, meaning illegal, underage material is being published.
Mr Cairns added: “OnlyFans says it assesses the age of every user, yet this was exposed as untrue by Reuters. It found that hundreds of sexually explicit videos and images of minors, including toddlers and teens, on the platform.”
“OnlyFans needs to be held to account. We need a proper investigation, to ensure that women and children are being protected”, he concluded.
ENDS
Notes for Editors
The Mirror investigation
Bombshell OnlyFans probe reveals shocking scale of alleged crimes
Reuters investigation
Multiple OnlyFans accounts featured suspected child sex abuse
Christian Action Research and Education (CARE) is a social policy charity, bringing Christian insight to the policies and laws that affect our lives. We welcome inquiries from print, broadcast, and digital media.
Contact us: press@care.org.uk
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