https://www.tv4.se/artikel/2iLSvcKI8QQq6gMyhFJbMP/zanna-saeljer-porr-pa-onlyfans-aer-besviken-pa-nya-foerbudet-upproerd

Yes, today several news sources have reported on the new law that prohibits the purchase of sexual acts online in Sweden. The Riksdag has voted through the amendment to the law, which means that it will be illegal to pay for customized content on platforms like OnlyFans. The law will come into force on July 1st of this year.

Proponents believe that the amendment makes the legislation more uniform and that the digital world is now covered by the same rules as the physical world. Critics, on the other hand, point out that creators may end up in a legal gray area and that it may be difficult to prove a crime1. Some who work with selling content on OnlyFans are now considering moving abroad to continue their business

"Onlyfans" is one of the sites that has come into focus with the amended Sex Purchase Act.

Onlyfans is one of the sites that has come into focus with the amended Sex Purchase Act. Image: Henrik Montgomery/TT
Five questions and answers about the new "Onlyfans law"
SwedenThe Sex Purchase Act is now being amended to also include digital documents. But what will be the difference? Here are five questions and answers about a hotly debated topic.

Marcus Alexandersson/TT & TT
Published: 2 hours ago
ADVERTISEMENT

It will soon be prohibited to buy sex films with tailored content from Onlyfans profiles. A change in the law has now been hammered through the Riksdag. But some questions remain, several of them linked to historical, moral and legal debates.

What has the legal situation been like in Sweden?

It is not allowed to buy sex in Sweden. However, it is allowed to sell sex. The demarcation of what constitutes buying and selling in this context has been debated and legally changed for centuries. The illegality of buying is based, roughly simplified, on the fact that the absolute majority of sex buyers are men and that the equally large, often vulnerable, majority of sex sellers are women.

Society, and legislative politicians, have wanted to emphasize through the law that it is – generally speaking – men who are the perpetrators in this context.

What is changing?

The rise of the Internet has created a new dimension in large parts of people's everyday lives, including buying sex and the related area of ??porn. Whether porn is filmed abuse or voluntary sexual expression is a historically long debate, but with sites like Onlyfans, consumers of porn have been able to order content in a different way than before. Specifically paying for content such as "I want you to do X with Y" will become punishable. However, you can still subscribe to a specific person's content and watch it, as long as the content is not tailored to a specific person.

Why is the change good?

The proponents point out that it will now be uniform and clear what applies in Sweden. What is illegal in the physical world will also be illegal in the digital world. The digital world will no longer be a "gateway" for prostitution.

- This is about digitalized prostitution, where the boundaries between pornography and human trafficking are blurred but where exploitation and abuse have moved in, argued Sanna Backeskog (S) in the Riksdag when the amendment to the law was debated this week.

Why is the change bad, according to the critics?

Criticism of the change comes from different quarters. Moral panic, say some. Others point out that those who now make content on, for example, Onlyfans will end up in a legal trench. A relative who knows that their partner is "selling sex" via Onlyfans could potentially be convicted of procuring.

Some critics also argue that the law risks becoming toothless because there is nothing to stop a creator from asking their "fans" what they want to see and thereby niche themselves into that type of content - which could be a way of circumventing the fact that it will be illegal to pay for "person X to do Y".

What happens now?

The Riksdag has today voted through the amendment to the law and it will come into force on 1 July this year. Exactly how the amendment will work is difficult to predict. The Liberals' Martin Melin, himself a former police officer, raised this very issue during the Riksdag debate:

- I see a challenge for the police when it comes to both detecting the crime and proving the crime. I have a little difficulty seeing how it will work, but the police and prosecutors will have to think about it in the future. I can only say that it will be a challenge.