Twitter shelved OnlyFans-style subscriptions over child-safety detection gaps

In spring 2022 Twitter explored monetising the adult content long present on its platform: a project called Adult Content Monetization would let adult creators sell OnlyFans-style paid subscriptions, with Twitter keeping a share of the revenue. Internal documents obtained by The Verge, plus interviews with current and former employees, show resources were pushed into the project ahead of a final go-ahead.

Before launch, Twitter convened an 84-employee 'Red Team' to pressure-test the plan. Its April 2022 conclusion derailed the project: 'Twitter cannot accurately detect child sexual exploitation and non-consensual nudity at scale,' the team wrote, and the company lacked tools to verify creators and consumers were of legal age. Paywalling content, it warned, would move still more illegal material out of view. In May 2022 — weeks after Elon Musk agreed to buy the company — Twitter delayed the project indefinitely.

The finding surprised no one who had been inside: fifteen months earlier, Twitter's Health team had reported in February 2021 that investment in detection technology had not kept pace with the exponential growth of such content, with moderators 'keeping the ship afloat' on legacy tools with known broken components. Executives were informed, employees said, but the resources were never committed. Twitter said it had 'zero tolerance' for child sexual exploitation and had invested significantly in enforcement.

The Adult Content Monetization project was delayed indefinitely before launch; OnlyFans' projected $2.5B 2022 revenue showed the opportunity Twitter walked away from

The monetisation plan depended on safety tooling the company already knew was broken — its own Health team had reported so in February 2021.

The Red Team found Twitter could not detect child sexual exploitation or non-consensual nudity at scale, and had no age-verification tools.

Paywalling adult content would have moved more illegal material behind closed doors, beyond the reach of Twitter's detection systems.

Leadership paused the product but did not fund the fixes, leaving the underlying detection gap in place.

Internal red teams only matter if leadership funds what they find: a company that knows its safety tooling is broken should not build products that depend on it.

Twitter confirmed the workstream was paused 'for the right reasons' but committed no new resources to detection; employees told The Verge the platform's problems with content that sexually exploits children persisted as of August 2022.