An investigation has revealed that under-18 users are uploading and selling explicit content featuring themselves on OnlyFans. BBC reported that it found several users who used fake identification to set up their account on the adult website.
The website, which has over 120 million users, requires the applicants to stand next to an ID card and then submit a photograph holding it up to their face. It also requires the creators to provide their bank details for receiving the payments from the site.
Underage Kids Co-Creating Content with Adults
During their investigation, BBC found that a 17-year-old creator, hailing from a suburb in the south-east of England, sold videos of herself using sex toys and masturbating and another under-18 person engaged in graphic sexual acts to create adult account.
Speaking to the outlet, Caitlyn, mother of a 17-year-old girl, who made over £5,000 from selling explicit videos on the site, said that when her daughter revealed about being a creator on adult site, she was as shocked as "any parent" would be. "I don't understand why people are paying so much money for this," she said. The mother of the teen also revealed that Leah had mentioned her age as 17 on multiple social media accounts.
The outlet also found that apart from creating solo videos the underage users were featuring in the sexual content created for the accounts handled by adults, which again was in violation of OnlyFans' guidelines.
Jordan, a friend of 17-year-old boy who co-created graphic content with his girlfriend, told the outlet that the Aaron did not own an account on OnlyFans.
Revealing that the teen was very proud of making explicit videos which included a sex film made in the couple's bedroom, Jordan said, "They shared $5,000 between them from a single video."
OnlyFans Claim Their Systems Prevent Under-18 From Sharing Content
In a communique sent to BBC, OnlyFans said that they use a combination of state-of-the-art technology together with human monitoring and review to prevent children under the age of 18 from sharing content on OnlyFans.
"This is something that we take very seriously. We constantly review our systems to ensure they are as robust as possible."
It added that its systems continue to evolve as new technology becomes available to "help us to reduce incidences of under-18-year-olds becoming OnlyFans users," the statement said.
Claiming that it is "increasingly clear" that OnlyFans is being used by children, UK's national lead for child protection policing Chief Constable Simon Bailey said that while it is illegal to post or share explicit images of someone under the age of 18, the police are extremely reluctant to criminalise children for such offences.
Stating that he was more concerned about the perils of kids exposing themselves by appearing on the site, Bailey said, "The company are not doing enough to put in place the safeguards that prevent children exploiting the opportunity to generate money, but also for children to be exploited."
