I wouldn't call any of those examples self controlled, really. I have never used any of the platforms so I am sure there are differences, but YouTube supports a subscription model similar to OF/Patreon in addition to just ad supported.
As far as I know you do get analytics and demographics from YouTube as well, so I am not sure what he is talking about there either. Unless the difference in those platforms is that you get the actual user which can then be sold to a data broker, and on YouTube you don't. I get that data is getting sold by the platforms already, but as a consumer if that is the case it's pretty shitty.
I understand the potential appeal of those platforms financially since I think the creator will get a higher percentage, maybe, but unless there is a website that you can sign up for directly, that isn't completely reliant on the existence of a third party it's not self controlled.
Is ian getting at something else and I am missing the point, or was he really talking about money and tried to change it up when called out?