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OnlyFans didn't mention 'sex workers' on Twitter until they started leaving

A milquetoast tweet (sort of?) thanks sex workers — and still leaves them in the lurch.

Rachel Kraus

on August 21, 2021

OnlyFans didn't mention 'sex workers' on Twitter until they started leaving

OnlyFans has acknowledged sex workers for the first time on Twitter. It's too little, too late. Credit: Gabby Jones / Bloomberg via Getty Images

OnlyFans put out a tweet on Saturday that embodies the phrase "too little, too late."

The tweet directly addresses "sex workers," and uses the hashtag #SexWorkIsWork, while offering no solutions for a new anti-sexually explicit content policy it has rolled out that makes existing on the platform in a way of the creators' choosing impossible. But sure, #SexWorkIsWork!

Sex workers have been posting that they are leaving OnlyFans, and they're criticizing the company's decision after it happily took 20 percent of sex workers' revenue for years before suddenly changing the rules in a way that threatens their livelihood.

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That turn of events makes the tweet in which OnlyFans acknowledges the role sex workers have played in the platform's growth seem suspiciously disingenuous, to say the least — especially considering that it hasn't addressed sex work or sex workers on Twitter ever before, as Twitter users have pointed out, and a search shows.

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A whopping one mention of sex workers. Credit: screenshot: Twitter

No results. Credit: screenshot: twitter

In the replies to the tweet, self-identified sex workers criticized the company for promoting SFW content, and not the adult content creators. A search through the company's Instagram page indeed shows that the bikini and lingerie-clad women it promotes are described as "models" — not sex workers.

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With sarcastic quote tweets and incredulous comments piling up, the tweet is on its way to getting ratioed.

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Has OnlyFans been taking "how to apologize" cues from Andrew Cuomo? Because this "sorry not sorry" just doesn't cut it.

Topics Social Media

Rachel Kraus

Rachel Kraus is a Mashable Tech Reporter specializing in health and wellness. She is an LA native, NYU j-school graduate, and writes cultural commentary across the internetz.