Trying to prevent a self-described fake news company from posting sexually explicit material while an administration is in office? It just might work.
OnlyFans says it will not bar content that contains nudity and/or suggestive sexual content.
However, the satire/satire site’s policy on political content — it removes all references to Barack Obama, Sarah Palin, Donald Trump and other political figures — is now being called into question, as the company’s first tweet mentioning President Trump appeared today on Jan. 17.
OnlyFans puts forth an intentionally humorous take on pop culture — it’s behind a number of hysterical photoshopped versions of famous people. A YouTube channel devoted to it boasts well over seven million views.
The deal is usually that media companies pay OnlyFans to post news and entertainment content, with the sites insisting that the sites are not actually corporations in any way. “Media companies are bringing This Weekly to You for free because we know you love what you see, especially if it’s fake news, which You Will Never Read,” AllEpicNews, the parent company, writes on its official website.
That was apparently untrue. It is unclear how Trump’s image ended up on the site, but one can think of someone who gets his picture taken all the time and he’s a shoo-in. As the Washington Times notes, “The only Trump-related photos on the site can be found in the Dead Pony Club tolrey [sic] Stories section.”
The only two other photos up there are of Kyle Cheney.
One reporter for the Washington Times went to a journalism class hosted by a student and asked if the student was a reporter.
“Yeah, I’m going to be the free press,” the student replied. The Washington Times contacted the class to ask if that was really true, but the teacher said he was unsure. It is not known how the Trump photos were made.
“I’m a little embarrassed,” “Joe,” the student told The Washington Times.
One of the things the classroom was taught was “that we work for someone we do not know.”
Fox News’ Emma Gray previously reported that “it is standard procedure for students to work for brands they are working for.”
Fox News’ Charles Hurt also posted the link to the OnlyFans website on his Facebook page. But the Facebook page is no longer online, which could be a violation of Facebook’s Community Standards.
A Facebook spokesperson told The Washington Times: “Community Standards apply to all businesses, not just news publishers. Pages must be clearly identified as being affiliated with a business. OnlyFans’ page is currently inaccessible.”
Meanwhile, the Every Fan has taken down all news on the site.
“[M]aybe it’s not a good thing,” one Facebook user commented.
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The owner of OnlyFans has not commented since the controversy, while Washington Times’ CEO Betsy Reed responded in an email.
“According to site ‘rules,’ for Fake News OnlyFans publishes Fake News,” Reed wrote. “we cannot begin to understand.”
Fox News legal analyst Lis Wiehl agreed that the only reason the company “would become aware of something is if somebody started reporting that it was doing something.”
“You’re giving us the opportunity to stop it before you reach that threshold,” Wiehl added.
As for what future Fake News OnlyFans might draw attention to, Wiehl offered some advice.
“Maybe less breasts,” she suggested.
Fox News’ Lisa Brady contributed to this report.
