Millions of OnlyFans paywalls make it hard to detect child sex abuse, cops say

But Reuters' investigation—which uncovered 30 cases of CSAM after submitting requests for "documents mentioning OnlyFans from more than 250 of the largest US law enforcement agencies"—concluded that "the 30 cases almost certainly understate the presence of child sexual abuse material on OnlyFans."

According to OnlyFans' transparency reports, though, the already small number of CSAM instances reported by the platform has seemingly decreased substantially. In 2023, OnlyFans reported that "incidents of suspected CSAM make up less than 0.001 percent of all content submitted by creators to be posted (or attempted to be posted) on OnlyFans." But this year, that shifted a decimal point, with OnlyFans reporting that the amount of CSAM comprises "less than 0.0002 percent of all content."

OnlyFans declined to comment on this shift in total incidents of suspected CSAM on the platform.

There's no question that OnlyFans has invested in keeping CSAM off its platform. OnlyFans pays the Internet Watch Foundation, a British nonprofit dedicated to combatting CSAM, about $114,000 annually for services that help the platform detect CSAM, Reuters reported.

But on a page detailing how the platform fights CSAM, OnlyFans said it's harder to identify "new" CSAM that is not yet "part of databases and tools used by law enforcement." To do this, OnlyFans said that it "closely" inspects "images, text, and sound files," reporting any "suspected CSAM which has not previously been identified" and passing that "information to law enforcement and non-governmental organizations to help identify the perpetrators."

Arguably it's even harder for cops to monitor for new CSAM on OnlyFans, according to Reuters' reporting. And the impact of that on minors is "devastating," Reuters reported. One father of a 16-year-old boy victim of CSAM on OnlyFans told Reuters that "there has to be accountability for these platforms," because his son now suffered from "a wound that will never heal."

Reuters searched US legal databases and found that OnlyFans has never been sued or held criminally liable for CSAM on its platform. But a question still seemingly remains as to whether OnlyFans prioritizes detecting CSAM over profits. When Reuters asked how minors dodged age verification, how CSAM evaded detection, and whether OnlyFans "kept its revenue from accounts involving minors," OnlyFans declined to comment.