Fansly website crashes as hordes of OnlyFans creators switch platforms

A website that’s strikingly familiar to OnlyFans has been flooded with interest ahead of a new ban on sexually explicit content on the latter platform.

Fansly, which brands itself as a “free and paid social network by creators for creators” (sound familiar?) announced over the weekend that it has been receiving “4,000 applications an hour”.

It comes just days after OnlyFans confirmed it would be introducing strict new rules for its users in just over a month’s time.

From October 1, the online subscription service will no longer allow “any content containing sexually-explicit conduct”, except nudes.

The social media platform is predominately used by sex workers but a number of celebrities, musicians and comedians also use it for non-sexual content.

Fansly has made no mention of enforcing similar regulations, meaning it has been hit by the mass exodus from its more widely-known competitor.

Overnight on Friday, the company revealed that its server had crashed amid the surge in demand, explaining: “Our creator verification team has processed thousands of applications over the last day, and we’re very excited for everyone to experience Fansly.”

It added in a post on its official Twitter account: “Thank you everyone for sharing our platform to those looking for a new home.”

In an update on Sunday, the site said its support team had multiplied in size and that it was “working on onboarding much more”. “We won’t let you down,” it added.

Presumably the company is relishing the influx in new recruits, yet, it certainly hasn’t celebrated OnlyFans’ apparent demise.

On August 19, Fansly tweeted: "Honestly hoping the OnlyFans news isn’t true, creators losing their income and subscriber base with less than a 2 month notice sucks.

"We want to grow because our site is more feature rich, more secure, and has better support not because creators are forced to use it."

Creators for OnlyFans, which currently has some 130 million users, receive 80 per cent commission on their earnings, while the remaining 20 per cent goes to the London-based firm. This covers “referral payments, payment processing, hosting, support, and all other services”.

The company said the radical changes to its content requirements are being introduced due to pressure from financial partners.

Although sex workers have said plan to use other platforms, they are concerned alternatives could also face the same fate.

A 24-year-old, who uses the name Yasmina Khan, currently makes about £22,000 per month via OnlyFans.

She told the Press Association (PA) that she hopes her 2,000-plus subscribers will follow and jump ship to a new site.

“I’m just going to have to go to another platform but then, are other platforms safe as well?,” she said. “I’m a little bit anxious about it but I think everyone is very anxious right now.”

OnlyFans creators can earn thousands of pounds per month Shutterstock / Postmodern Studio

Obscenity lawyer Myles Jackman said he believes OnlyFans could decline like Tumblr, which saw numbers drop after it decided to ban pornographic images in December 2018.

“It’s difficult to see that OnlyFans will survive purely as an influencer site,” he explained to PA.

“It’s possible but considering the entire content base has been pornography and now it’s not going to be anymore.”

The changes come in the wake of a BBC investigation, which claimed that content moderators for the platform are told to give multiple warnings to accounts that post illegal content before the site decides to close them, and that staff are asked to be more lenient towards successful accounts on the service.

The investigation also claims to have seen a number of examples of banned content on the site and says it was told by moderators that prostitution services have been found advertising on the platform.

In response, OnlyFans said it “remains committed to the highest levels of safety and content moderation of any social platform”.

It added: “All creators are verified prior to being able to upload any content to OnlyFans, and all uploaded content is checked by automated systems and human moderators.”