OnlyFans models inadvertently trigger takedown of over 2,000 government websites

OnlyFans models are unintentionally causing the removal of more than 2,000 government and educational websites due to copyright takedown requests. This trend has been observed over the past 15 years, with a noticeable increase in incidents since 2020. According to a new analysis by cybersecurity company UpGuard, these requests are linked to adult content creators aiming to combat online piracy.

Impact of DMCA Requests on Government Sites

Adult content creators, including Laura Lux, have filed millions of copyright requests under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Lux, who has been sharing content online for nearly two decades, states, “If you are not running a DMCA service, then you might as well probably not even be bothering doing the job, because it will be everywhere.” This effort has inadvertently affected many government domains, which are often hijacked by scammers.

Over the years, scammers have exploited vulnerabilities in official websites, particularly those with authoritative .gov and .edu domains, to distribute malicious content. The analysis reveals that these compromised sites have been used to promote scams, including fake downloads and advertisements for adult content.

Statistics on Copyright Takedown Requests

Since 2011, there have been approximately 384,286 takedown requests targeting 631,193 URLs associated with government and educational institutions. Notably, around 130,000 of these URLs have been removed by Google, while no action was taken against 460,000 others. The majority of these requests have emerged in recent years as the adult creator economy expands.

• 384,286 takedown requests since 2011
• 631,193 URLs targeted
• 130,000 URLs removed by Google
• 460,000 URLs left unaddressed

Scammers' Tactics and the Role of Google

Scammers often use the names of popular adult content creators to lure unsuspecting victims to compromised sites. Dan Purcell, CEO of Ceartas, explains, “A compromised .gov page ranking for a trending creator’s name is a near-perfect funnel for scammers.” This highlights the effectiveness of these tactics in exploiting search engine algorithms.

While Google has robust anti-spam measures in place, including warnings in its Chrome browser, the persistent nature of these scams raises concerns. The company maintains that its DMCA process is designed to address individual pages rather than entire domains, complicating the resolution of these issues.