Rebecca, content creator on OnlyFans, was the target of abusive messages and violence Gus Palmer/BBC Warning: this report contains accounts of violence that may be disturbing to some readers Rebecca, a content creator on the OnlyFans platform, states that she joined an agency after being promised help to increase her earnings on the adult-oriented social network. 🗒️ Have a reporting suggestion? Send it to g1 Instead, according to her, she was a victim of abuse, received threats against her daughter, and had masked men sent to her home to assault her. "They were lovely at first." The 29-year-old woman from South Wales says her new managers claimed she was pretty and that they had "never seen a girl" like her. But within a few weeks, they became "quite controlling," starting to insult her appearance and forbidding her from going out with friends, she recounts in the BBC Three documentary OnlyFans: Inside the Machine. Now on g1 According to Rebecca, the abusive behavior intensified after she changed her account login details, worried that the agency, which had access to her profile, might lock her out. "I will destroy you and your daughter," read one of the messages sent to her and viewed by the BBC. A brick was thrown through her house window, and a few weeks later, two masked men showed up at the location.
One of them entered the residence and, according to Rebecca, strangled her and threw her "up and down the stairs." She showed BBC reporters photographs of bruises on her legs and neck. Her account is part of a pattern of accusations against agents who present themselves on social media as OnlyFans account managers, known by the acronym OFM (OnlyFans Managers).
They promise to help content creators grow their businesses on the platform, but information obtained by the BBC shows that, in some cases, they act exploitatively and make threats. We spoke with 60 OnlyFans content creators in the UK and infiltrated one of the largest private agent groups on Telegram, called OFM Empire, which has 24,000 members. There, we found guidance on how to recruit creators, take control of their accounts, and profit from them, often resorting to threats of violence. One user called this strategy the "pimp method". The OnlyFans platform has been aware of concerns related to overly exploitative account managers for at least four years, when complaints involving agencies began appearing in international press. But for the first time, our investigation focuses on the UK, where the OnlyFans platform is headquartered.
According to human rights experts and lawyers who reviewed the BBC's findings, the platform is not doing enough to protect content creators from exploitation. "What Rebecca experienced brings together widely recognized signs of exploitation: control, coercion, financial pressure, and the inability to leave freely," Eleanor Lyons, the UK's Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, tells the BBC. "It is something the government needs to examine more closely. We may be dealing with a platform that facilitates exploitation and abuse." A spokesperson for OnlyFans stated that "the accusation that the company 'turns a blind eye' [to these problems] is unfounded." According to the spokesperson, the company takes user safety "extremely seriously" and invests "heavily" in measures to protect its community.
They also added that the platform complies with all obligations set out in the UK Online Safety Act. "OnlyFans' relationship is with its creators and fans. We have no affiliation with or endorsement of third parties, including management agencies." "Unfortunately, we cannot review or influence contractual relationships that creators choose to establish outside the platform, because we are not party to those agreements." Gia Clarke and Lily Phillips are successful OnlyFans content creators, but state that women on the platform may be vulnerable to exploitation Gus Palmer/BBC More than 4.6 million content creators worldwide post videos and photos for paying subscribers on OnlyFans.
The platform keeps 20% of the revenue. One of the UK's most successful social media success stories, the company that operates OnlyFans, Fenix International, reported a pre-tax profit of $684 million (around R$ 3.8 billion) in its most recent financial statement. At the same time, a global ecosystem of account managers known as OFMs has grown around the platform. They promise to attract more subscribers and increase creators' earnings.
In return, they keep a share of the revenue, usually 50%. 'Relationship of servitude' Gia Clarke, a British content creator who has been publishing on OnlyFans since the platform launched ten years ago, says she receives more messages from people presenting themselves as agents than from fans. "The idea [of OFMs] is very good. The problem is that there are too many unqualified people operating in this area.
Since there is no regulation, models don't know who to trust," she states. She describes some of these managers as "predatory". Contracts between content creators and these agents or managers obtained by the BBC show managers keeping up to 70% of earnings.
Many demand full access to accounts and impose fines on those who try to terminate contracts before the deadline. "They [OFMs] are taking advantage of the situation, which almost places these creators in a relationship of servitude with agents and agencies, trapped in unfair contracts," says Matt Jury from the human rights law firm McCue Jury & Partners. Sophie Kemp, head of public law at Kingsley Napley, agrees. "This does not look like a fair contractual relationship in any way.
These contracts look like the first step toward the exploitation of content creators." The BBC found conversations like this on Telegram BBC Several of the 60 content creators interviewed by the BBC stated that their managers accessed their accounts and lied about earnings to keep a larger share of the money. One of them said the manager changed their password to prevent access to the account.
Another stated that their manager swapped the registered bank details, causing payments to be deposited directly into their own account. Similar tactics are openly discussed in the OFM Empire channel on Telegram. "Create an email and password for her [OnlyFans]. That way she can't log in," wrote one user.
"I have access to the payment platform on her behalf using the email I created. I have the password.
I have total control of everything." According to an OnlyFans spokesperson, the platform adopts "rigorous new user verification processes, payment controls, and ongoing account monitoring." They stated that when concerns arise about an account, OnlyFans immediately restricts access, opens an investigation, and takes steps to ensure the creator is in control of their profile.
But when a BBC reporter created an account using a verified photo, she was able to register a colleague's bank details to receive test payments. OnlyFans informed the BBC that "in the UK, when a creator requests a withdrawal, third-party payment providers perform checks to confirm the bank account holder.
When this check is not successfully completed, the payment is rejected". Rebecca states she decided to change her OnlyFans account password after a friend, represented by the same manager, had her login details changed without consent and was locked out of her own account. She says she then started receiving abusive calls and messages. "He was texting me my own address and saying he was going to drag me and my daughter by the hair," Rebecca recounts. "Goodbye, you bitch," read another message shown by her to the BBC. A few days later, she says, a brick was thrown through her house window. Rebecca states she called the police, but was too scared to mention the agency linked to OnlyFans. She also reports being assaulted three weeks later when two masked men showed up at her residence. "One [of them] was on top of me, strangling me, while I tried to reach the phone to call someone because I thought that was the end.
After they showed what they wanted to show, they stopped and left." Rebecca is convinced the manager is behind both episodes. "I have no problems with anyone else," she states. Rebecca is not the only content creator who claims to have received threats. Another woman, who asked to remain anonymous, says she initially agreed to hand over 35% to 40% of her earnings to her account manager, but later concluded the percentage was too high. "He told me that if I wanted to reduce [the] percentage, I would have to pay 10,000 pounds (around R$ 74,000), for all the time and effort he invested in me." When she refused, she said the manager replied that she would "get what she deserved." "Was he going to show up at my house? Delete my account? He used to tell stories about what he had done to other girls, how he managed to take down their accounts or sent lawyers to their houses," she states. "Every week I received a weird message: 'You're going to get what you deserve.
Wait and see, it's coming'", she recounts. She has since cut ties with that manager. Leanne, 33, signed a contract giving the manager access to her account, authorization to change the email address linked to the profile, and the right to 50% of her earnings, after deducting the platform's cut. The contract, obtained by the BBC, also stipulated that she must fulfill subscribers' content requests within 24 hours. Leanne states she made it clear when signing the agreement that she would not produce sexually explicit videos.
Even so, according to her, the manager constantly pressured her to make them. Eventually, she agreed to record such a video "to shut them up", provided it wasn't sold to followers for less than $250 (around R$ 1,400). She says she felt "physically nauseated" after recording and claims she hasn't even watched the video. Leanne no longer produces content for OnlyFans Gus Palmer/BBC Later, Leanne discovered the video had been sold for less than $40 (around R$ 220). "It made me feel so gross and so humiliated," she states. She no longer publishes content on OnlyFans. OnlyFans was already aware of concerns related to overly exploitative OFMs through media coverage.
But the BBC also identified at least one content creator who tried to warn the company directly. Riley informed the platform about discussions in the OFM Empire group suggesting agents were buying and selling content creator contracts without their knowledge. "These groups' tactics are becoming increasingly exploitative," she wrote in an email sent to OnlyFans support staff in 2024, viewed by the BBC. The platform asked her to provide evidence.
Riley then sent links to OFM Empire and screenshots of messages posted on the forum. She was later informed that there was not enough evidence for OnlyFans to take action. OnlyFans told the BBC that "any bad actors exploiting content creators" should be reported to the platform and, when necessary, to the police, so that "they can be held accountable and appropriate steps taken to protect our creator community." Lyons, the UK's Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, states that OnlyFans has a legal obligation to protect users from illegal content and to act quickly to remove it when made aware of it. "It is alarming that cases of exploitation are being reported and apparently not receiving an adequate response," Lyons says after reviewing the emails sent by Riley. "This raises serious questions about whether OnlyFans is fulfilling its legal obligations to protect users." Lyons states she is already engaging with Ofcom, the UK online safety regulator, and policymakers, who she says "need to pay much more attention" to the issue. Add to that her statement that these agents or managers should be subject to stricter oversight and possibly a licensing system. Ofcom informed the BBC that the victims' accounts presented in this investigation are "deeply concerning". "Regulated platforms and apps, such as OnlyFans, must assess the risk of their services being used to facilitate crimes," the regulator said in a statement.
"However, offenses committed entirely outside the digital environment are not covered by the Online Safety Act." Lily Phillips, one of OnlyFans' highest-earning British content creators, states that the lack of OFM regulation creates "a dangerous environment where vulnerable people can be exploited". "People realize how much money can be made on OnlyFans. So everyone wants a slice of this market, especially men..
they want a piece," she states. Kemp, from the law firm Kingsley Napley, states that OnlyFans has a duty of care toward content creators and that, based on the evidence gathered by the BBC, she believes "it is only a matter of time before OnlyFans faces negligence lawsuits brought by creators who have suffered harm". Rebecca says she wanted to prove her former agency wrong by succeeding on her own on OnlyFans. Today, she is represented by an agency where content is managed by women, which she says makes her "feel much better". Rebecca states that working as a content creator on OnlyFans "is not something for forever" and hopes that one day she will have made enough money to perhaps open her own riding school.
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