Lily Phillips is 24 years old, earns more than $100,000 a month on OnlyFans, and still had to stand in front of the BBC cameras to say something no one should ever have to say: “people do not see us as human”.
The documentary ‘OnlyFans: Inside the Machine’, broadcast on BBC Three and BBC One, revealed that managers on the platform lock creators out of their own accounts, divert payments into their own pockets, and in at least one documented case withheld 100% of a woman’s earnings, leaving her without a cent. Profiles are sold between managers as if they were merchandise — without the creators knowing or authorizing it. And when one of them tries to leave, she receives threats of violence, even death, against her or her children. There are managers who share “control tips” online to manipulate them more effectively. 🔎
Manchester was identified as the epicenter of this ecosystem in the United Kingdom, with entire buildings converted into studios. MP Tonia Antoniazzi, chair of the parliamentary group on commercial sexual exploitation, said that OnlyFans is hiding legal violations behind a paywall. So far, there is no regulation prohibiting these management contracts or protecting creators. No one has been sanctioned.
