- OnlyFans is reversing its decision to ban porn.
- It had planned on removing the content from October 1, prompting backlash from its users.
- But it announced on Wednesday that it "will continue to provide a home for all creators."
Subscription-based creator platform OnlyFans has reversed its decision to ban sexually-explicit conduct after widespread backlash.
"Thank you to everyone for making your voices heard," it said in a statement on Wednesday. "We have secured assurances necessary to support our diverse creator community and have suspended the planned October 1 policy change."
"OnlyFans stands for inclusion and we will continue to provide a home for all creators," it added.
The company had planned to ban the content from October 1.
An OnlyFans spokesperson said the change was planned "to comply with the requests of our banking partners and payout providers."
Sex workers had told Insider's Kat Tenbarge and Allana Akhtar that they were "angry and confused" by the change.
"They're giving us less than two months' notice to now find a new platform to move all of our fans to in an attempt to just survive and keep paying rent," sex worker Nat Cole told Insider.
CEO Tim Stokely had told the Financial Times that banks BNY Mellon, JP Morgan Chase, and Metro Bank created "unfair" obstacles to pay creators due to OnlyFans' association with sex work.
"JPMorgan Chase is particularly aggressive in closing accounts of sex workers or...any business that supports sex workers," Stokely said in an interview on August 24.
OnlyFans, which reportedly had trouble wooing investors due to the platform's association with sex work, stopped fundraising following the announcement to ban porn, sources close to the company told Insider.
Stokely denied the company's decision to ban porn stemmed from trouble finding investors. He told the Financial Times sexually explicit conduct would be allowed on OnlyFans if banks changed their practices.
"This decision was made to safeguard their funds and subscriptions from increasingly unfair actions by banks and media companies," Stokely told the FT. "We obviously do not want to lose our most loyal creators."
