A rather peculiar plot has been unleashed in the United States and has OnlyFans in the eye of the storm. It is that the platform for adults faces two lawsuits for supposedly attacking rival companies, so that they lose relevance and number of visits. And how would you be doing this? Denouncing the social media posts of their content creators as terrorists, they say.
According to BBC News, one of the complaints also mentions Facebook as an alleged accomplice of OnlyFans. But let's go in parts, so that the apparent role of each of the protagonists of this story is better understood.
Last Tuesday, FanCentro —another adult content platform— filed a lawsuit against OnlyFans for allegedly conspiring against the accounts of its performers (read, porn actors and actresses) on social networks. It would be achieving this by including its publications in a GIFCT terrorism database, or Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism, despite not being one.
Although the complaint does not mention in which social networks this behavior would have been detected, that database would be used as a reference in different companies for content moderation. Thus, FanCentro maintains that OnlyFans manages to limit the scope of the profiles of its content creators, where they usually interact with their followers and share links to their publications on the platform. Therefore, it ensures that traffic to your site is clearly affected by this situation.
The second is a class action lawsuit filed by three content creators against OnlyFans and Facebook. Here the mechanics that is accused is basically the same, but with the addition that a direct mention is made of the alleged complicity of the Mark Zuckerberg firm. According to the complainants, their Instagram posts promoting rival platforms to OnlyFans are the ones that are consistently blocked, even when they do not violate the social network's terms and conditions.
OnlyFans and Meta defend themselves against the accusations
The reaction of the companies involved in this story with absurd borders was immediate. Both OnlyFans and Meta told the British press that the claims are baseless; even the parent company of Facebook and Instagram indicated that they will address the allegations "in the context of the litigation", as necessary.
And from the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism they also distanced themselves from the issue. "We are not aware of any evidence to support the theories put forward in this lawsuit between two parties with no connection to GIFCT," they said.
We will have to see how this story progresses. It is clear that the porn and adult entertainment industry has fierce competition between its protagonists; but if the veracity of the accusations against OnlyFans is confirmed, the firm would be involved in a new scandal of great magnitude.