Pornhub Is Now Deleting Most Of Its Videos

Pornhub, the world’s largest porn site, is now in the process of deleting the majority of its video library. Following a week plagued by claims of illegal content published on their site and by major credit card companies pulling their support, Vice reports that Pornhub is now in the process of reviewing all videos that weren’t been uploaded by verified users. The site plans to implement a new verification process in the coming year.

“As part of our policy to ban unverified uploaders, we have now also suspended all previously uploaded content that was not created by content partners or members of the Model Program,” Pornhub said n a statement. “This means every piece of Pornhub content is from verified uploaders, a requirement that platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat, and Twitter have yet to institute.”

These changes were prompted after a New York Times piece was published a couple of weeks ago, one that followed the lives of minors whose videos were posted on Pornhub without their consent. Mastercard and Visa then began an investigation on the contents on the site; a couple of days later, they decided to stop processing all payments made to the site. They also threatened to pull their support from Mindgeek, Pornhub’s parent company, which is in charge of other adult sites like Youporn, XTube and Brazzers.

While these changes got Pornhub to listen to and to ensure that there are no illegal videos on their site, they also affect a large percentage of people who have done nothing illegal. Sex workers and performers have long been looking forward to changes in the way in which porn sites manage their content, especially those whose work is often pirated and reposted on these sites.

Still, the decision from Mastercard and Visa was one that was decried, calling it conservatory and discriminatory by the Sex Workers Outreach Program Behind Bars.

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Non-consensual and underage sex content is a problem on porn sites but it’s also a problem on social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. These sites aren’t viewed the same as porn sites and thus aren’t targets for these kinds of attacks that, while well intentioned, are likely to impact the livelihoods of thousands while not offering much protection or remuneration for victims.