In an accident that was fully preventable, OnlyFans star Anna Polly tragically fell to her death from a hotel balcony while filming a threesome for her OnlyFans account. Anna Beatriz Pereira Alves was a rising content creator on OnlyFans who regularly created and shared explicit content with her subscribers. While OnlyFans does give full creative freedom to its content creators, some creators have fallen into a pattern of producing increasingly “edgier” material, each competing to outdo the other in their quest to ensure their page is the one people sign up to view. That said… does OnlyFans have a responsibility to the content creators who keep it in business to rein in the culture of outrageous stunts and prevent further tragedies?Let’s back up a titch, shall we? Alves—Anna Polly, as she’s known on OnlyFans—had rented a hotel room in Brazil to film content for her page. She had two male collaborators over, and the group was filming a threesome on the balcony because, apparently, that’s a super safe and normal setting for sexual activity. Alves fell from the balcony mid-ménage à trois and, unfortunately, didn’t survive. There is still an ongoing police investigation, so it will be some time before the general public—or her fans—get answers as to whether this was truly an accident or if she had a little help going over that ledge. The medical examiner in charge of Alves’ autopsy will thoroughly examine her body to determine if substances or assault played a role in the tragedy. Her fans aren’t the only ones eagerly awaiting the results of that autopsy. Alves left behind a grieving fiancé who is desperate for answers in the case of his beloved’s completely avoidable death.

While OnlyFans doesn’t deliberately pit content creators against one another, there is a very real pressure to perform and ensure your page is the one getting the shock clicks. Creators feel a constant need to “one-up” each other with increasingly extreme content to make sure their subscribers can’t help but stay tuned—and keep paying that subscription fee (and the occasional tip, if they’re feeling generous). Audiences are intrigued by extreme sex stunts—hat tip to Bonnie Blue—but the constant attempts to outdo one another lead to behavior that risks both physical and mental health—*looks at Lily Phillips*. At some point, is OnlyFans responsible for the extreme stunts its creators participate in? Does OnlyFans owe it to its creators to do more to protect them from the risks of death by clout chasing?

Given that OnlyFans also has a ways to go in the security department, we’re going to go ahead and say yes, OnlyFans could be doing a better job of taking care of its content creators. If the creators who produce the content that allows the platform to thrive aren’t in a situation where their well-being is considered, eventually, those creators will go elsewhere. Access to mental health resources and safety education wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, and neither would slightly stricter content guidelines—like, “no content in which participants appear to be in physical danger will be allowed on our platform.” Regardless of how OnlyFans chooses to act, content creators owe it to themselves to set boundaries that prioritize their safety over going viral online.

Anna Polly’s death was a completely avoidable tragedy and one that has rocked the OnlyFans community. As her fans and loved ones wait for answers, it’s time to ponder whether the constant escalation to be the next wild sensation on platforms like OnlyFans is really worth the risk to the lives involved.