EDGE Rewind: Singaporean OnlyFans Creator Titus Low Fined & Jailed for 'Transmitting Obscene Material'

EDGE is reaching into its archive and sharing some of our favorite stories from the past.

The Los Angeles Times (via Yahoo News) reports that Titus Low, a Singaporean OnlyFans creator, was sentenced Tuesday to three weeks in jail and ordered to pay a roughly $2,000 fine for transmitting obscene materials and breaching police orders to stay off the subscription video site. Low has become famous for his homoerotic profile and challenging the city-state's laws regarding homosexual visibility.

The 22-year-old Low pleaded guilty to both charges and said he would begin serving his jail time Oct. 26.

His OnlyFans site began getting him worldwide attention last year. "Singapore maintains strict obscenity laws, and when some of Low's content was leaked online, police launched an investigation that resulted in his arrest Dec. 29," writes the LA Times.

In an interview with the LA Times last year, Low said "I've done nothing wrong." He feels he has been singled out among the small band of Singaporean OnlyFans creators, possibly because he flaunted his success by posting clips on luxury items (including his Lamborghini). "

The website the website Channel News Asia writes that Low started his OnlyFans account in April 2021. "Between then and October 2021, he earned more than US$240,000 (S$345,500) from the platform, after deducting taxes. He had more than 1,900 active subscribers as of October 2021, and more than 4,000 expired subscribers." 

After someone filed a police report against Low in Sept. 21. Low was told by police he was not to access his OnlyFans account and the email linked to it. He gave up his passwords, but failed to tell the police he had a secondary account linked to OnlyFans. "After the police changed his passwords, Low contacted the OnlyFans help desk and managed to get access to the account again, by claiming he had been hacked," reports CNA.

"Deputy Public Prosecutor Thiagesh Sukumaran asked for a fine of S$3,000 for the obscene material charge and a jail term of four weeks for defying a police order."

In the hearing Low's lawyer, Kirpal Singh. explained how OnlyFans is designed only for adults to enter.

He said there was a mechanism for face recognition to prevent minors from accessing it and that the platform is not an open one.

"So it's very secure in that sense and it's almost between two consenting adults."

And added the case pointed out a broader issue here as consenting adults will time and again transmit potentially pornographic obscene materials to each other.

The LA Times agreed: "This colliding of the digital age with old-world sensibilities has turned Low's ordeal into a morality tale, as if HBO's 'Euphoria' had intersected with evangelical politics."

The LA Times continued: "While society has loosened, conservatism remains ingrained in the identity of the Southeast Asian nation of over 5 million people, three-quarters of whom are ethnic Chinese. Confucian attitudes about respecting tradition abound. Many Singaporean elites are devout Christians. And living next door to large conservative Muslim communities in Malaysia and Indonesia has engendered a more cautious approach to progressive issues like LGBTQ rights."

Singh asked Low was asked why he defied the police order, and was told he already had prepaid subscribers at that point and felt "an obligation to continue to supply them content".

Singh said he did not think jail was appropriate in this case, saying Low was the first one from OnlyFans to be prosecuted and that there is no yardstick with which he could gauge his actions.

However, he said Low accepted it was a "stupid thing to do" and he regrets it.