OnlyFans, Meta and the bribery and 'terrorism' scandal that rocked the porn industry
MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA: An unusual alliance was seen when OnlyFans and Meta came together for a shocking scandal in the porn industry that left many social media influencers vulnerable. According to a group of lawsuits, the content subscription service stomped on its competitors in the online porn industry with an idea that even roped in Meta. By bribing the billion-dollar company, OnlyFans was able to throw the details and accounts of at least 20,000 social media influencers on a terrorist watchlist.
OnlyFans, which is ridiculously famous among pornstars, decided to turn up the heat in the kitchen in order to take an edge over their competition. The scheme involved bribing Meta employees to throw thousands of porn stars onto a terrorist watchlist, and so happened, as per the New York Post. The suit filed in a California court states that the adult content creators who were using other services saw their content tagged as 'containing terrorist content', immediately disabling their capability of earning. These influencers were then "shadowbanned" across several Meta-owned platforms like Instagram and Facebook. The suit also explained that businesses, celebrities, and influencers who "have nothing to do with terrorism" were also targeted.
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The accounts that were NOT using OnlyFans were allegedly placed in a database of terror-linked accounts run by GIFCT (Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism). The non-profit organization focuses on stopping the circulation of mass shooting videos and other terrorist content across social media sites, created by Meta, Microsoft, Twitter, and Google’s YouTube in 2017. The way OnlyFans profited is, that as soon as these accounts were placed on the watchlist, the traffic to the sites housing their content dropped significantly. Meanwhile, OnlyFans was soaring with high numbers. Meta did not respond to comments but told BBC that after their own investigation they did not find any evidence that the terror database had been abused. Meta said, "These allegations are without merit and we will address them in the context of the litigation as needed."
OnlyFans blacklists rivals with the help of Meta
The plaintiffs in the suits filed against Meta and OnlyFans are being represented by the law firm Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman. The lawyers claim that they have a list of more than 21,000 Instagram accounts that were unfairly tagged as potential terrorists. One of the plaintiffs in the California suit is Alana Evans who told the New York Post, "When I heard that my content may be listed on the terror watch list, I was outraged. I was angry because it affected my income when my social media traffic dropped significantly, and I was angry because I am the daughter of a veteran who fought for this country.” Kelly Pierce is also among the plaintiffs.
In addition to the lawsuits, Milberg partner David Azar asked Meta and GIFCT to open up their records "to help figure out whether our clients or their content are indeed on any databases intended for terrorists, and how to get them off." The New York Post reached out to OnlyFans and they said, "We are aware that these cases have been filed. We are not aware of any evidence which supports these allegations. The alleged participants have all publicly stated that these cases have no merit." While GIFCT refused to talk to the New York Post, they told BBC it was "not aware of any evidence to support the theories presented in this lawsuit between two parties with no connection to GIFCT. Our continuing work to enhance transparency and oversight of the GIFCT hash-sharing database is the result of extensive engagement with our stakeholders and has no connection to these claims."