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The real OnlyFans scandal is the unaccountable power of platforms and banks

theguardian.com

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Re: The real OnlyFans scandal is the unaccountable power of platforms and banks

#21

Post by PixelOfDeath »

pydry wrote: post #15
float4 wrote: post #9

> for these corporations this is not a matter of free expression, as it ought to be, but one of morality Is it really true that banks block transactions related to sex work because they are morally against it? Last time I checked banks just want to make money. This is a genuine question by the way. > But just a few weeks in, Twitch shut it down after a change of policy that included, among other things, a ban on visi…

They're reacting to regulations designed specifically to make it too much of a headache for them to service these customers.

I feel the influence of the "Christian Taliban" in the ranks of the US government gets underestimated.

Re: The real OnlyFans scandal is the unaccountable power of platforms and banks

#22

Post by dalbasal »

I suspect that "accountability" is a problematic frame. Platforms are the accountability mechanism, increasingly so.

As for banks... Everything new is old again. Financial institutions have long been the unofficial regulators, acting more or less in unison with arbitrary decision making power. Tech platforms have just joined the game.

Re: The real OnlyFans scandal is the unaccountable power of platforms and banks

#23

Post by Guthur »

rob_c wrote: post #17

Looks like the same thing as wikileaks to me. A combination of bad optics and lawyers getting involved causing a monopolistic supplier to pull their services. Doubt this has much to do with MasterCard attacking the adult industry, it looks more like they want to strongly protect their existing stranglehold on the payment systems. Anything which impacts the way they're seen costs them real actually money I'd bet at th…

Oh please come on, stop with the monopoly rhetoric Only Fans is no where near a monopoly. It just comes across as truly naive to throw that term around in every conversation.

Re: The real OnlyFans scandal is the unaccountable power of platforms and banks

#24

Post by Sebb767 »

pydry wrote: post #15
float4 wrote: post #9

> for these corporations this is not a matter of free expression, as it ought to be, but one of morality Is it really true that banks block transactions related to sex work because they are morally against it? Last time I checked banks just want to make money. This is a genuine question by the way. > But just a few weeks in, Twitch shut it down after a change of policy that included, among other things, a ban on visi…

They're reacting to regulations designed specifically to make it too much of a headache for them to service these customers.

Webcam porn sites seem to be doing quite well. If Twitch would suddenly allow nudity, the chance that they get sidetracked is high - just compare OF and Patreon. They offer basically the same thing, but Patreon is rather strict on porn and OF is known for only porn.

Re: The real OnlyFans scandal is the unaccountable power of platforms and banks

#25

Post by pessimizer »

The reason the banks, and through the banks OnlyFans, attack sex is because they are accountable, and don't wish to take risks unless they are very profitable risks.

The real danger of platforms and banks is how happy they are to censor for the government, or simply the loudest, richest mouth, in order to keep the profit flowing. If you want to fix it, you put in legal protections for people to do business, rather than this informal and/or ad hoc regulation through the shifting influence and agendas of arbitrary special interest groups.

> The financial and tech industries’ prudishness is unfortunately increasingly reflected in government policy, typically under the guise of protecting children and other vulnerable communities.

This is the Guardian getting causation extremely wrong.

Re: The real OnlyFans scandal is the unaccountable power of platforms and banks

#26

Post by edgyquant »

willis936 wrote: post #14
tobylane wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it either a form of discrimination that doesn’t line up with any protected class, or a bona fide discrimination against areas that have a high chargeback rate? I’m interested in how much the morals we don’t like line up with the cold stats we would follow.

Sex workers are effectively a subset of women. I'm not sure if this qualifies as a protected class. My personal sense of justice leads me to think that there should be some amount of protection for any worker, even if the powers that be disagree.

Not sure why you're downvoted. I've never heard any definition of 'class' that would make sex workers one. It's a profession, not a class.

Re: The real OnlyFans scandal is the unaccountable power of platforms and banks

#27

Post by Sebb767 »

Guthur wrote: post #23
rob_c wrote: post #17

Looks like the same thing as wikileaks to me. A combination of bad optics and lawyers getting involved causing a monopolistic supplier to pull their services. Doubt this has much to do with MasterCard attacking the adult industry, it looks more like they want to strongly protect their existing stranglehold on the payment systems. Anything which impacts the way they're seen costs them real actually money I'd bet at th…

Oh please come on, stop with the monopoly rhetoric Only Fans is no where near a monopoly. It just comes across as truly naive to throw that term around in every conversation.

I'm pretty sure they mean the payment provider are the monopolistic service.

Re: The real OnlyFans scandal is the unaccountable power of platforms and banks

#29

Post by sokoloff »

Guthur wrote: post #23
rob_c wrote: post #17

Looks like the same thing as wikileaks to me. A combination of bad optics and lawyers getting involved causing a monopolistic supplier to pull their services. Doubt this has much to do with MasterCard attacking the adult industry, it looks more like they want to strongly protect their existing stranglehold on the payment systems. Anything which impacts the way they're seen costs them real actually money I'd bet at th…

Oh please come on, stop with the monopoly rhetoric Only Fans is no where near a monopoly. It just comes across as truly naive to throw that term around in every conversation.

I read monopoly above as credit card processing, not OnlyFans.

Re: The real OnlyFans scandal is the unaccountable power of platforms and banks

#30

Post by throwjd764glug »

It affects more than just sex workers. Amren cannot accept Paypal or credit cards due to deplatforming (or even draw attention to this through Youtube or Facebook, as those also banned them), Wikileaks was also financially isolated, and donation websites and payment providers deplatformed Rittenhouse's legal defense fundraising.

Funny the Guardian didn't mention this. Reading their coverage gives the impression deplatforming is limited to moralizing against sex workers.

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