Pornhub pressured to crack down on non-consensual uploads

In light of a recent New York Times exposé detailing the damage done by non-consensual videos posted to pornography sites, Pornhub has announced a set of major changes to the platform.

‘Serena Flietes was 14 when a boy she had a crush on asked her to make a naked video and send it to him,’ begins The Children of Pornhub, a New York Times exposé detailing the damage done by non-consensual videos posted to pornography sites. ‘She did, and it ended up on Pornhub, leading to a downward spiral of suicide attempts, struggles with addiction, and homelessness.’

Attracting a staggering 3.5 billion visits a month and the 10^th most visited website worldwide, Pornhub touts itself as the ‘cheery, winking face of naughty.’

It’s launched environmental campaigns, cheered people up in lockdown with the promise of free steamy content, and has donated large sums of its revenue to organisations fighting for equality.

It even released an educational series for its younger audience offering ‘real talk about sex from those who know it best.’

Within the confines of this seemingly harmless (and generous) platform however, there exists a very real, very dark side.

To date, though activists have demanded changes to the porn streaming giant’s business model for some time, little action to rectify this has been taken. Their claims refer to the inherent absence of checks to ensure videos are consensual, and outline the fact that scenes of sexual assault, trafficking, rape, and child abuse continues to remain readily available on the internet.

At fault of continually refuting an evidently systemic problem with videos of this nature on the site, Pornhub yet again denied responsibility, calling the newest allegations ‘irresponsible and flagrantly untrue.’

.@Mastercard has just advised me that it has confirmed the presence of illegal material on Pornhub, so it is immediately ending Mastercard use on Pornhub. It will also address the issue on other websites. This wouldn't have happened without survivors bravely speaking up.

— Nicholas Kristof (@NickKristof) December 10, 2020

That was, of course, until MasterCard permanently blocked the use of its cards on the site and Visa suspended all payments until the investigation is completed.

Forced to confront this widespread and long-overdue issue with policing content as lawmakers propose a new bill that would allow victims to sue, Pornhub has finally announced a set of major changes to the site.

As of this week, the platform has in place a blanket ban on downloads, and an outright ban on unverified videos.