Written by Eben Haezar, Fany, Haykal Arsya, Puspita Wulandari | Read in Indonesian

The rise of the online porn industry is nothing new. This industry develops following technological advancements. At first, the industry was carried out using network-based software or online as the marketing medium. Over the last decade, there have been many sites that sell adult content and can be done by anyone.

Riley Reynolds, the owner of an adult film agency, in the 2015 documentary "Hot Girls Wanted" recounted his experience in recruiting women in the United States. Reynold said there were at least hundreds of young women there who were turning 18 and at least one of them would apply to become an amateur porn star. 

Today, the porn industry does not only make films about a person or group having sex, but also creates a business model that accommodates both men and women to make appearance via webcam. However, with strict regulations in Indonesia, almost no one enters the industry.

Indonesia has regulations related to pornographic content, namely Law No.4 Year 2009 concerning Pornography. According to the Head of the Information Sub-Section of the Public Relations Bureau of the Secretary General of the Ministry of Communication and Informatics, Taufiq Hidayat, pornography is also regulated in the Law on Information and Electronic Transactions on the subject of the definition of decency.

"It (the ITE Law) refers to the Pornography Law which also defines pictures, sketches, illustrations, photos, writings, sounds, moving images, animations and so on," said Taufiq in an interview in May.

In 2016, Timothy Stokely founded OnlyFans. OnlyFans has the same meaning as its name, "fan only". In other words, OnlyFans is a paid content service that allows content creators to receive funding from their fans via tipping and pay per view (PPV).

This service is popular and is generally associated with sex workers, but it also hosts a wide range of content outside of pornography. Because pornography is allowed, the website is primarily used by porn models, both amateurs and professionals.

However, OnlyFans also has a market among chefs, fitness enthusiasts and musicians. The website is only available to users who are 18 years of age or older.

Since its release, OnlyFans immediately attracted millions of users from various parts of the world. This includes creators from Indonesia. Alisa and Cyrene, for instance, have recently been actively uploading content on OnlyFans.They are also active on Twitter to promote their OnlyFans content.

Living Two Lives: OnlyFans and Real Life

A woman with shoulder-length hair appeared on the laptop screen. She said a greeting and introduced herself with a soft voice and a friendly smile. Alisa (not her real name) is an adult content creator from Indonesia. In line with what Reynolds said, Alisa started making adult content when she was a teenager.

“Initially because of cosplay since 2012. Then I took a break for a year and restarted in 2019. At that time, I was in the phase of liking guys and wanted to wear a little stylish clothes, so I started taking photos to gain confidence and found that ‘oh, I look good taking photos like this and it turns out that my body is good too.’ Over time, I learned that some people make it as paid content. From there, I thought I could make photos like this and finally (continued) until now," said Alisa in an interview on 17 April.

Alisa started selling her adult content through social media ranging from Facebook to Twitter and OnlyFans. She uses Facebook to build a community or fan base which will be useful to raise engagement and impressions. She made Twitter her promotion centre as she sees that the platform has a wider reach. On Twitter, Alisa has around 29,400 followers. Twitter rules are not that strict and she can also support other adult content creators via shout-out. Alisa has only joined OnlyFans for around 2 months.

“I also use Trakteer for local and Gumroad for international. I use them to sell my photo sets. Why not direct orders? Keeping track of them all is difficult. On OnlyFans, all content is recorded. Besides, I made OnlyFans because Facebook, Instagram and soon Twitter will take strict action against these types of posts, and because most of the supporters are from overseas," said Alisa. “Actually, there are other platforms that offer me to use their services, but I still can't manage the content. I use OnlyFans to post daily selfies and teasers for upcoming photo sets. It's a shame that the selfies are only stored in the cell phone gallery, so I put them there and turn them into money," Alisa explained.

OnlyFans is often synonymous with pornographic content. However, Alisa does not create content about sexual things, such as selling sextapes. She only creates implied nudity, i.e. photos that show someone in a semi-naked state or no part of their genitals is shown.

Another Indonesian-based adult content creator, Cyrene, started making adult content because she likes nude photography. At first, she only sold adult content through Twitter, then she decided to join OnlyFans.

"The reason I entered OnlyFans was for fun because I am active on alter Twitter and have a hobby of taking some 'naughty' pictures," Cyrene said in an via Twitter on 30 April.

An alter account is another identity that a person has where they form a new personality outside their original identity and it is already known by many people. Twitter is a platform with a considerable amount of alter accounts and forms a world filled with anonymous accounts to show another side of themselves. Both Alisa and Cyrene use alter accounts.

Alisa created her personality as someone who is cheerful and always pays attention to her appearance, such as having to put on makeup and deciding what clothes to wear. However, in everyday life, Alisa is a quiet and introverted character.

"Originally, when I wanted to go out, a casual look would do, I didn't even put on makeup. Now, it's like I have to pay attention, ‘what kind of clothes would be good’ so I can upload, take photos. They now seem like a necessity," said Alisa. "Sometimes, people know Alisa as a bubbly person and I have to respond in a good way. Even though they didn't know that that day I was really tired or there were things I didn't like, I needed to hold back," she continued.

Slightly different from Alisa, Cyrene creates her alter personality to be similar to her personality in everyday life. According to her, she can be more free and open through her alter account.

Even though Alisa and Cyrene love creating adult content as a hobby, they still have to make big decisions. This is because they enter the public sphere where both their content and activities are consumed by the public.

“So, we throw away the side of us that do it to have fun, such as uploading just anything for ourselves and not thinking too much about public opinion. For us, the photos must be good and not show our bad side. I have to look (like) I'm living my best life and sometimes it’s tiring," she said.

By creating an alter account, it can be said that both Alisa and Cyrene live two lives. This can have a negative impact on daily life. It will be different if it can give you happiness.

"I live two lives - the personal life and the life of this figure ‘Alisa’. Both have an impact on that life, so the impact can exist for a long term. One life allows me to do what I like. Life must be balanced; things you have to take seriously and things you have to take lightly with must be balanced,” said Alisa.

Cyrene shared the same sentiment, saying that in living life, they must love every process. Don't just focus on the end goal, because without the process, there will be no result.

In the process of making adult content, Alisa and Cyrene can violate laws related to pornography or similar regulations applied on each platform. However, neither Alisa nor Cyrene have had to deal with the government and given sanctions for violating the regulations. However, Alisa was once reported for spreading pornographic content through her Trakteer account, which led to a 1-month account suspension.

OnlyFans and Regulations in Indonesia

The Ministry of Communication and Informatics is observing the rise of OnlyFans activities in Indonesia. However, Taufiq argues that OnlyFans as a digital platform has the same characteristics as technology - something that is considered neutral. It's not the platform that matters, but the usage. Therefore, Taufiq said the ministry’s focus is not on the platform, but on content that violates the rules.

“That’s the ministry’s territory. The ministry’s focus is not on the platform, but on content that violates rules. Content [that violates public] decency, content about ethnicity, religion, race and intergroup issues, and so on," Taufiq explained the ministry's actions against OnlyFans content.

From the point of view of positive law in Indonesia, the problem is not OnlyFans involving content creators. Issues will arise when the content violates the applicable regulations in Indonesia. In this case, Taufiq explained that if OnlyFans wants to operate in Indonesia, it has to comply with all applicable regulations. Other platforms, too, must comply with the regulations of each country they come to. Any platform that fails to comply will be sanctioned, such as blocking.

Regarding the policy on content creators, Head of Digital At-Risks Sub-Division (DARK) of SAFEnet Ellen Kusuma stated that Indonesia doesn’t have regulation that specifically regulates content creators, including regulations that protect content creators from the possibility of their pornographic content being spread massively.

"It is certain that there is no protection for content creators who create pornographic content, instead they are at risk of being criminalised because such content is illegal in Indonesia," Ellen explained in an email interview on 4 June.

In Indonesia, in almost all criminal cases regarding pornography, only the subjects in the content are punished. However, according to the ITE Law, punishment should be given not only to the subjects in the content, but also those who create, store and disseminate the content. Therefore, Taufiq said that in a month, the number of pornographic content blocked by the ministry is in the thousands.

"Almost all pornographic content that we identify will be notified to the platform so they can take the content down or maybe block it (so that) it is not easily accessible, that's the rule," said Taufiq.

Content take-down or ban is one of two approaches taken by the ministry to solve the issue of pornographic content. Taufiq in a short chat with the editorial team explained that the ministry handles virtual activities, while incidents related to the law are the police’s territory.

Taufiq was reluctant to call these activities the pornography industry. This is because calling something an industry must be based on the rules of a company or legal industry listed in the Indonesia Standard Industrial Classification (KLUI). Therefore, pornographic activities in Indonesia cannot legally be called an industry.

“To this date, no one has declared that it (OnlyFans) is engaged in the porn industry, the online porn industry. Even if it did, it is because it thought such activities couldn't be done here, so it ends up doing them underground. I don't think it's an official industry,” he added.

Although content creators make profit from their activities on OnlyFans, Taufiq deems that they have no obligation to pay taxes. This is because the government cannot collect taxes on illegal 'industry' - in this case is online pornography. "The thing is, content creator is a new profession and maybe not all of them have provided a record of taxes," explained Taufiq.

According to Ellen, the government sees that pornography is illegal content, so taking firm action against pornographic content creators is a natural response taken by the government.

"As long as there is no change to the Pornography Law or the ITE Law regarding content that violates public decency, legal action is still the main effort that can be taken against these creators," added Ellen.

The journey of legislation in Indonesia is still long. Over time, platforms like OnlyFans will continue to grow and become more accessible. The number of local content creators will also continue to increase. The government and society must as soon as possible give a clear verdict to this practice. Is the porn industry a taboo or the other way around?

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