A headline claims that China now “bans OnlyFans.” OnlyFans is a pornography site—well, content-sharing platform, as it calls itself—whose popularity in China the Chinese government blames on “Western influence.” Supposedly, the Chinese never sought spectacles of provocative enactment before Western “creators” came along (Tech in Asia, July 22, 2025).
Tech’s headline is wrong. The Chinese government is not suddenly banning OnlyFans—not any more than it had already been banning OnlyFans.
China has banned the UK-based content platform OnlyFans, known for its subscription-based adult content….
Although OnlyFans was not officially available in China, some users accessed it through VPNs and third-party payment systems.
The ban now eliminates those workarounds, restricting access for both creators and users.
OnlyFans was not officially available in China before now because it was already banned in China. Also before now, the Chinese government prohibited the use of VPNs to evade its censorship. And the Chinese government continues to prohibit the use of VPNs to evade its censorship. (Businesses operating in China may use strictly regulated, authorized VPNs to access sites required to conduct business if those sites would otherwise be inaccessible.)
China is always trying to make its Great Firewall harder to circumvent. But the party-state cannot convert its sometimes-circumvented censorship to never-circumvented censorship merely by announcing that using virtual private networks and third-party payment systems to evade censorship is now really, really illegal.
We don’t know the full extent to which censors are being eluded within China. Probably, the people who successfully elude them don’t usually publicize this success.
Tech reviewers say that in 2025, certain VPNs are still capable of penetrating the Great Firewall. The risk of using them is not zero and must be higher if the state is already keeping an eye on you for whatever reason. Which VPNs are best and safest I don’t know, but sites like The Best VPN, The Food Ranger, TOP10VPN, and Tom’s Guide have their opinions.
Also see:
The Best VPN: “The Best VPN for China: Real Test Results (Updated 2025)”
“Our first-hand experience shows ExpressVPN to be the best VPN for China.”
The Food Ranger: “What is the Best VPN For China?”
“As of July 2025, ExpressVPN currently ranks #1 as the best VPN for China.”
TOP10VPN: “The Best VPNs for China”
“Astrill is by far the best VPN to use in China….
“Contrary to what many websites state, ExpressVPN and NordVPN are no longer reliable options for China. In our tests, we found that most of the time they don’t unblock websites in China, as we explain in more detail below.”
Tom’s Guide: “The best China VPN: working services right now”
The author’s “three best”: NordVPN, ExpressVPN, Astrill VPN.
