Sweden Criminalizes Custom Online Sex Acts, Impacting OnlyFans Creators

 Sweden’s new law bans paying for live or custom sexual acts online, affecting OnlyFans users and creators.

Sweden has passed a law banning the purchase of custom-made sexual content online, including live performances on platforms like OnlyFans. 

The legislation, effective July 1, 2025, criminalizes paying for sexual acts performed remotely, equating it with traditional prostitution. This move aims to modernize Sweden’s approach to sex work in the digital age. Democrat MP Teresa Carvalho told broadcaster TV4l: 

“This is a new form of sex purchases and it is high time that we modernise the Sex Purchase Act, and that we also include purchases that take place remotely on digital platforms such as OnlyFans.”

“No Nudes, Please”: How the Law Actually Works

The updated legislation doesn’t ban porn in general. Watching free adult content or subscribing to pre-recorded pages is still legal. What’s now banned is any form of customized or live sexual content that’s purchased directly. In other words, it’s not about what’s shown, it’s about the buyer’s request.

This includes everything from stripteases to dirty talk via private message. Creators who previously relied on PPV content, private video chats, or selling sexting bundles to fans will now lose that income stream entirely, at least in Sweden. Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer argued that the amended law was a natural extension of Sweden’s prostitution regulations:

“Basically, the idea is that anyone who buys sexual acts performed remotely should be penalised in the same way as those who buy sexual acts involving physical contact.”

The Censorship Domino Effect

Sweden’s decision is part of a much larger pattern. Around the world, governments are pushing to regulate, restrict, or outright ban adult content and creator platforms. In the United States, the conservative Project 2025 plan includes wiping out digital porn entirely if Republicans return to power. The United Kingdom has introduced strict age verification systems that gate access to platforms like Pornhub and OnlyFans, raising concerns about data privacy and government overreach.

China maintains a complete ban on all adult content. OnlyFans is already restricted or totally illegal in more than 16 countries. Creators in those regions face prison, platform removals, and even government surveillance. Sweden may be the latest to join the crackdown, but it probably won’t be the last.

OnlyFans Creators Feel the Burn

For OnlyFans creators in Sweden, this law feels like a slap in the face. Many say their work is safe, private, and completely within their control. Unlike traditional sex work, digital creators operate without physical risk, without pimps or trafficking, and without pressure from third parties. Yet they’re still being targeted.

Many creators say they’re angry, exhausted, and afraid they’ll be forced to leave their jobs. What’s worse, this law adds to a long list of obstacles they already face. Social media platforms regularly suspend adult creators without warning. TikTok flags their videos even if they follow all the rules. YouTube demonetizes their content or deletes channels entirely, as it did with Amouranth. For creators already pushed to the edge by tech platforms, this law is just another door slamming shut. OnlyFans creator Sanna Zentio shared her frustration with TV4:

“It feels like the politicians don’t really understand what we work with digitally or actually do. Many of us are working very independently and safely.”

Come On, Sweden… You Used to Be Fun

What stings the most for many creators is the betrayal of Sweden’s progressive image. The country is known for embracing diversity, promoting equality, and leading the way on digital freedom. But this law sends the opposite message.

OnlyFans CEO Keily Blair has spoken out about how platforms like OnlyFans empower women and marginalized groups to control their content and earn safely. But lawmakers don’t seem to be listening. And the silence from tech companies, banks, and governments continues to grow louder. 

Sweden’s adult creators are not asking for special treatment. They’re asking to be respected as professionals. Instead, their fans are now being labeled as criminals, and their work is being pushed into the shadows.

Freedom Offline?

This is the same country that gave us progressive policies, digital freedom, and social equality. But now, it’s putting OnlyFans creators under fire, criminalizing intimacy, and shutting down personal expression. Sweden says it’s protecting sex workers, but creators say it’s just another law that pushes their work into the shadows.

From platform removals to legal threats, the message is clear: being a digital adult creator is getting harder by the day. If even Sweden is banning nudes, maybe it’s time we all asked what freedoms are really left online.