Payment Services, the Deplatforming of Sex, and the Governance of Platform Intimacy

Abstract

Much of the considerable regulatory attention directed at sexual content online focuses on platform content moderation policies, but payment and advertising services play a gatekeeping role on platform content as well. In 2021, OnlyFans cited the difficulties of meeting the policies of payment processors and banks in its announcement that the site would stop hosting sexual content. This decision was subsequently retracted under public criticism of the platform for profiting off sex workers and then removing them from the platform. The case of OnlyFans provided a rare reversal of the moral panics that often surround the governance of sexual content online. This article discusses the deplatforming of sex as a case of contested platform governance identifies how public conflicts over platform governance of sexual content fit within broader “no platform” politics, and draws on research from affected communities to make the case for alternative policy approaches.