Twitter was ready to begin selling OnlyFans-style porn subscriptions in a bid to spice up its revenue — but put the feature on ice earlier this yr attributable to concerns about child porn, in keeping with a recent report.
The social media site, which is locked in a court battle with Elon Musk, allows users to post porn but gives them no strategy to monetize it. Twitter created and thought of launching an OnlyFans-like subscription feature that might let porn stars sell nude photos and videos, the Verge reported on Tuesday.
The choice would have been controversial and risked alienating advertisers, but could even have helped Twitter differentiate itself from other social media sites.
Twitter created and thought of launching an OnlyFans-like subscription feature that might let porn stars sell nude photos and videos, in keeping with a report.Bloomberg via Getty Images
In April, Twitter assembled an 84-person “Red Team” to “pressure-test the choice to permit adult creators to monetize on the platform, by specifically specializing in what it might appear to be for Twitter to do that safely and responsibly,” the Verge reported based on leaked documents and interviews with employees.
The team reportedly found a slate of disturbing holes in Twitter’s plan, including that the location is unable to consistently detect and take down non-consensual and child porn.
“Twitter cannot accurately detect child sexual exploitation and non-consensual nudity at scale,” the Red Team reportedly wrote, adding that Twitter didn’t have the tools to confirm that porn performers and consumers were of legal age.
Launching a porn subscription service would make the risks worse, the Red Team reportedly found, because smut sellers could be incentivized to flood the platform and far of the porn could be hidden behind a paywall.
The Red Team also reportedly warned that adding more porn to the location may lead to scrutiny from lawmakers and annoy longtime users.
Following the Red Team’s report, Twitter decided to place the plan on ice until the location could put more health and safety measures in place, in keeping with the Verge.
Twitter assembled an 84-person “Red Team” to look into making a site just like OnlyFans.Sheldon Cooper/SOPA Images/Shutt
Twitter didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment from The Post.
Company spokesperson Katie Rosborough told the Verge that the Red Team’s report “was a part of a discussion, which ultimately led us to pause the workstream for the best reasons.”
