OnlyFans has “temporarily paused” Russian accounts and says it can no longer serve Russian creators. The company confirmed the change to Motherboard in a statement today.
The subscription-based platform popularized by sex workers had previously allowed Russian creators to stay and continue to get paid despite economic sanctions. In February, Rolling Stone reported that Russian OnlyFans creators briefly lost access to their accounts with little warning. Shortly after, OnlyFans said it had restored access and that “accounts will have full functionalities as long as we continue to have payment methods to support them.”
But, on Thursday, the company said it was taking steps to pause accounts receiving payments in Russia. In a statement to Motherboard, the company says it had “explored several options to continue providing our services to creators impacted by the Russia / Ukraine war,” but “a further tightening of payment restrictions to and from Russia” prevented it from serving those accounts.
It wasn’t immediately clear how OnlyFans was supporting Russian accounts until this point and what changed. The company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from The Verge.
Since Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine, Russian creators have seen the number of platforms they’re able to use steadily diminish. American crafters noticed a mass disappearance of cross-stitch designers on Etsy — many of whom were based in Russia — after Russian storefronts were banned in March. Following Russia’s banning of Instagram and Google halting ad sales, Russian YouTubers have had to find new ways to get paid. The latest change to OnlyFans’ policy is another example of creators left with little recourse as companies cease operations in Russia.
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