Pornhub Deletes All Unverified Videos After Mastercard-Visa Ban

Adult Videos site Pornhub removed most of the videos by stopping all unverified uploads, within the line of illegal content.

Mastercard, one of the world’s largest payment providers, witdrew support for the site last week over the scandal.

Pornhub’s Statement

A New York Times report has accused the site of being “full” of child abuse and rape-related videos.

Pornhub says its new methods are now much stronger than any other social media platform.

This step means that only videos uploaded by certified content partners and the people included in the videos, who are members of its model program, live online.

Most site content is uploaded by unverified community members. Millions of videos have been removed from viewing due to a new policy.

Pornhub also claims to be targeted by organizations that seek to eradicate pornography, rather than to evaluate its suitability.

‘Because we are an adult platform’, this bring trouble.

This latest move builds on Pornhub’s earlier attempts to resolve the controversy caused by the New York Times.

The New Policies

The site says it has “paused” the videos it took offline, rather than stating that they were deleted.

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Pornhub says it plans to launch a regular user verification program in the new year.

“This means that all Pornhub’s content comes from certified uploaders, which is a requirement that platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat and Twitter have not yet started,” the site wrote.

“It’s clear that Pornhub is not targeted because of our policies and how we compare them with our peers, but because we are an adult content forum.”

Pornhub's page extolling the benefits of its Model Program.

It is alleged that groups “committed to eradicating pornography [and] banning what they consider to be obscene material,” were at the root of their own problems.

Allegations Against Pornhub

Nicholas Kristof’s article highlighted how the site returned thousands of search results for underage girls, and told stories of many victims of rape and abuse who found videos of their online attacks.

‘I was raped when I was 14 – the video ended up on a sex site Pornhub’ said a victim.

It follows an investigation by the BBC earlier this year into a woman who found a video of her raping a 14-year-old girl in the area.

Kristof’s article asked why banks, search engines and card companies support Pornhub, given his allegations – and named the Mastercard as one example.

Mastercard launched an investigation, and decided to end its relationship with Pornhub soon. Visa continues the same investigation.

This step could have a profound effect on the company. Although free to use, Pornhub charges £ 9.99 per month for exclusive content and high quality video.

Pornhub’s parent company MindGeek has previously said the allegations are “problematic and untrue”.

In its most recent annual review, Pornhub said it had 42 billion visitors in 2019 and uploaded more than 6.83 million videos, with a combined viewing time of 169 years. It did not say how many presidents it hired.

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