Police have detained 17 adult content creators for OnlyFans, which is banned in Turkey, accused of sharing ‘obscene photos and videos for payment on the platform’.

A portrait of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Bursa, May 2023. Photo: EPA-EFE/ERDEM SAHIN

Turkish police have detained 17 people who create adult content on the OnlyFans digital platform for obscenity and violating family values, it was announced on Friday.

“A simultaneous operation was carried out on February 13 against 25 individuals and 2 companies in eight different provinces and districts, including Istanbul, Adana, Ankara, Antalya, Edremit, Kocaeli, Golcuk and Samsun together with the suspects, and their assets were seized,” the prosecutors’ office said in a statement.

“It was determined that obscene photos and videos were shared for payment on the platform called OnlyFans which is banned in our country and known for fully sexual content as well as on other social media platforms, where promotional posts directing users to this platform were made,” the statement gave as reasoning for the operation.

The remaining eight people are still at large, are in prison already, or are now abroad, including the globally famous OnlyFans content creator Merve Taskin, who left the country due to political pressures. “I thought the police had come every time there was a knock on the door,” Taskin said on January 22 on Instagram, explaining why she left.

OnlyFans is a subscription-based online platform where creators share exclusive content with being paid by followers, widely known for adult material. The platform has been blocked in Turkey since June 2023 for violating “public morality and family values”.

However, the platform is accessible via VPN services and its content is promoted by other digital platforms, such as Telegram, prosecutors wrote.