Pornhub pulls videos from unverified users after allegations of illegal content

The move was a part of its policy announced last week where Pornhub banned users’ ability to download videos and said it would allow only certain partner accounts to upload content, following a New York Times column that said many videos posted on the adult website depicted child abuse.

“It is clear that Pornhub is being targeted not because of our policies and how we compare to our peers, but because we are an adult content platform,” the company said in the blog post late on Sunday.

It also said it was being targeted by organizations such as the National Center on Sexual Exploitation and Exodus Cry/TraffickingHub, which are dedicated to abolishing pornography, banning material they claim is obscene, and shutting down commercial sex work.

Last week, Mastercard said it was permanently ending the use of its cards on the platform after its investigation confirmed the presence of illegal content on the platform. Visa had said it was suspending payments till an investigation was completed.

On December 4, the New York Times wrote:

“That supposedly wholesome Pornhub attracts 3.5 billion visits a month, more than Netflix, Yahoo or Amazon. Pornhub rakes in money from almost three billion ad impressions a day. One ranking lists Pornhub as the 10th-most-visited website in the world.”

“Yet there’s another side of the company: Its site is infested with rape videos. It monetises child rapes, revenge pornography, spy cam videos of women showering, racist and misogynist content, and footage of women being asphyxiated in plastic bags. A search for “girls under18” or “14yo” leads in each case to more than 100,000 videos. Most aren’t of children being assaulted, but too many are.”

Pornhub has repeatedly denied these allegations.