TW: Discussion of sexual violence, child abuse, pornography, and exploitation, including details of online platforms and their practices.

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In this episode, we discuss the concerning realities of the online sex industry, with our guest,Dr. Elly Hanson, a clinical psychologist specialising in preventing and tackling sexual abuse and exploitation.

Elly left us speechless on more than one occasion with her incredible insight into the harmful dynamics at play in pornography, particularly the objectification and exploitation facilitated by platforms like OnlyFans and PornHub.

We delve into how the marketing of sex as a commodity affects both adults and children, the links between pornography consumption and harmful sexual behaviors, and the urgent need for regulation and societal change.

Since recording, afurther OnlyFans exposé by Reuters reveals that the platform subcontracts its content moderation to workers in war-torn Ukraine. They are recruited by the ‘almost untraceable’ company StopFraud with whom OnlyFans has a shadowy relationship. Reuters cites content moderation experts who agreed that OnlyFans’ claim of blanket human review is implausible, and when Reuters spoke to several former StopFraud workers, they described clandestine working conditions, including the use of nondisclosure agreements and only knowing their colleagues by nickname. Companies’ reports to Ofcom are shared publicly, but in OnlyFans documentation, details of their content moderation have been redacted.

X now states that it shields pornography from children, but this appears tosignificantly rely on children stating that they’re children and the people posting porn labelling their content as such. They will need to implement proper Age Verification within the UK by the summer of 2025.

Episode Highlights:

• 02:11 Defining harm in the context of sexual abuse and exploitation

• 04:16 The marketing of sex and the rise of OnlyFans as ”ethical porn”

• 06:03 Discussing pornography with children: following the money and business models

• 13:08 The link between pornography consumption and harmful sexual behaviors, including peer-on-peer abuse

• 28:00 The global reach of OnlyFans and its staggering growth

Referenced in the episode:

• Gail Dines' work on human rights and sexuality

• Children's Commissioner's research on young people's perceptions of sexual violence

• Reuters OnlyFans Exposed special reports

This episode was written and hosted by Lucy Duckworth & Mark O'Sullivan, produced by Lucy Lucraft and brought to you by The Survivors Trust.