Cape Town - Those interested in using OnlyFans to post content, and adult content in particular, should be aware that there are long term employment consequences to using the platform.
It may sound appealing earning money and starting an OnlyFans account, but there are greater personal and professional implications involved in joining the pay and play service. In our conservative society, businesses have to consider the impact on their brands of associating with a service, notably know for its adult content.
OnlyFans enables individuals to promote themselves in a new way by offering exclusive content for a price. The service allows anyone, from musicians and educators to fitness gurus and chefs, to post on the service but the profiles with the most notoriety are the adult/porn accounts.
Google Trends charts data on trending topics from around the world, and when looking at South African web searches for ‘OnlyFans’ over the last 12 months there is a steady increase in interest.
The number of searches in South Africa has spiked over the lockdown period, specifically between the weeks of April 19-25 and May 10-16. According to the web search data for OnlyFans via regions, the site is particularly popular in the Eastern Cape, Western Cape and Gauteng.
OnlyFans did not respond to numerous attempts to find out how many accounts are registered in South Africa.
One OnlyFans user, who uses the platform to post adult content, said he signed up because he was intrigued at how well it would work out and the allure of earning money from it.
“So many people are using it and I thought well let’s give it a go,” he said. “Plus it’s a means to fund my unemployment a little.
“Honestly it’s not as lucrative as one would hope. The company takes a 20% commission on all subscriptions which is very high. Plus being in SA, the higher fees would never work. So unless you get into the overseas market you make only a little bit of cash,” the user said.
He added that he is worried about people finding out who he is, and has resorted to using a pseudonym.
“Unfortunately though, it can still come back to me, in which case I will have to deal with the repercussions. The internet is becoming far more free in some things; like being able to post what you want, but there are always consequences to the actions if the wrong people find out.”
Kyle Freitag, head of commercial law at Legalese said that under the Films and Publications Act 65 of 1996, the production and consumption of pornography was not illegal, merely very difficult.
“The classification process is in the hands of the classification committee, which in this case acts as the morality police for the South African populace,” he said.
Freitag explained that the difference between the classifications of “XX” (not allowed to be distributed) and “X18” (allowed to be distributed with certain restrictions) in relation specifically to pornography appears to be “violating or showing disrespect for the right to human dignity of any person”, which he explained is an extremely subjective consideration.
“One man’s XX may be another man’s X18. It is necessary to note that, although signed by the president and gazetted, the Film and Publication Amendment Act 11 of 2019 has not yet come into effect...the Act appears, mainly, to extend its application to online and streaming platforms, to extend the ambit of certain definitions, to establish an Enforcement Committee and to provide for offences for non-compliance with the Act,” Freitag said.
Emma Sadleir, social media law specialist from The Digital Law Co, said that there could be huge reputational damage involved for companies if employees are making adult content.
“Employee’s online reputation is linked to the reputation of the company.
“You are the real-world version of yourself when you go online. You can’t just pretend.
“If you bring your company into disrepute and if you don’t act in the best interest of the company, you could face dismissal.”
Sadleir did mention that all companies are different, and your place of employment matters, but did say that in such matters, the billboard test comes in handy.
“Would you put it on a billboard with your face, name, and the company you work for on it.
While the consumption and production of pornography is legal in the country, so long as people are of legal age, it is difficult to claim that the making of adult content is done in a personal capacity when you are employed.
Sadleir added: “There is no such thing as personal capacity and no such thing as being anonymous online, people always find out.”
Attorney Grant Wilkinson from Global Business Solutions said that any behaviour which might bring a company into disrepute may lead to challenges from a recruitment perspective or impact on their employment.
“Any behaviour which brings the company into disrepute, even were it to be in their personal time, could impact the company’s reputation and as such may lead to disciplinary action.
“I think it is important that people bear in mind the association with these accounts and particularly the activity thereon and the linkage that people might have were they to see certain behaviour on said sites.
Wilkinson added that in the long term, with the internet being the way it is, when a person is older these things tend to crop up and could have long term ramifications in terms of employment reputation.
Faatimah Essack, candidate attorney in labour and employment, said that HR is going to go through your social media for any sort of "reputable" professional job and usually they have to be in accordance with company policy which “is archaic and very traditional”.
“Yes, they don't get to tell you what to do with your time but once you join a company, you represent their brand in every way of life.”
Essack also cautioned that while we do live in a sex-positive time, it is noteworthy to say that fellow Millennials and Generation Z are not the ones hiring staff. Millennials are people born between 1980 and 1994, while those from Gen Z were born between 1995 and 2015.
“The oldest millennials are pushing 40 years old and that means they are pretty much old enough to be the parents of Gen Z and there is a large disconnect in how the respective generations grew up. In fact, the internet only relatively boomed in the early 2000s and you can find millenials who exude boomer energy when it comes to navigating the space. It needs to be a conscious and mature decision.
“There are bigger ramifications than just signing up for a Tinder account. We also have to consider protection and privacy laws with regards to OnlyFans, because you are essentially consenting to wave those rights for money.”
Essack added that while people many not necessarily be posting sexual content on OnlyFans, the nature and brand of the website itself already leads people to form their preconceived ideas.
“Should such a case for dismissal go to the CCMA broad policies will be in favour of the employer and as for discrimination, the equality clause and section 9, it could be justified as an inherent requirement of the job section 6(2) of the employment act, it could be an inherent requirement to maintain a good reputation devoid of ‘sexual lewdness’ especially in more high profile jobs that deal with established to clientele and establishing brand reputation.”