A class-action lawsuit has been filed by two Illinois men against OnlyFans, a global adult content platform, after they discovered that the messages they received from their subscribed sex workers may not have been genuine. The lawsuit, which was originally reported by 404 Media, alleges that the platform’s parent companies, Fenix Internet, LLC and Fenix International Limited, engaged in deceptive practices by allowing third parties to send messages on behalf of creators.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of plaintiffs M. Brunner and J. Fry, claims that OnlyFans violated its own Terms of Service (TOS) by permitting third-party agencies to interact with fans, thereby creating a false sense of “direct” and “authentic” connections. According to the suit, “Plaintiffs claim that Defendants unlawfully and improperly deceived and defrauded its Fans by allowing third parties to send communications on behalf of Creators in violation of OnlyFans’ TOS.” The lawsuit further states:

Despite OnlyFans’ success being built on promises of “direct” connections and “authentic” relationships, the platform knowingly facilitates schemes where fans are misled into paying for personal interactions with creators that are not genuine. These schemes involve the deceptive outsourcing of fan interactions and other functions to third-party “management” agencies.

Gizmodo has reached out to OnlyFans for comment on the matter.

It is a well-documented fact that many OnlyFans models do not personally interact with their subscribers. Prominent media outlets have covered this phenomenon, and it is reasonable to assume that most subscribers are aware of this aspect of the business. Brunner, one of the plaintiffs, admitted to subscribing to a model with hundreds of thousands of followers, making it unlikely that she would have the time or resources to respond to all messages personally.

OnlyFans is transparent about the potential involvement of third-party firms in customer exchanges. The platform’s contract between creators and fans explicitly states: “The Fan acknowledges that third parties may assist Creators in operating their accounts and in Creator Interactions.” However, the lawsuit claims that this contract “obfuscates the role that third parties may play in assisting Creators with their content” due to its location within the TOS, requiring an additional action from the fan to view.

In essence, the lawsuit argues that the contract’s placement on a separate webpage from the TOS is unreasonable, as it requires users to click through to another page to understand the terms. While this may be seen as an inconvenience, it can be argued that it is not the company’s responsibility to ensure users thoroughly read and understand the terms of service, especially when they are eager to engage with the platform’s content.