Visa, Mastercard to investigate allegations against Pornhub

Shookt!!! damn Pornhub!!! wrong move… that is just so wrong… this is a sensitive issue and zero tolerance must implement.

On Sunday, Dec 6, Credit card giants Visa and Mastercard said that they are investigating their business relationship with Pornhub after a prominent newspaper columnist alleged that the pornographic website shows videos of rape and underage sex.

The New York Times column, written by Nicholas Kristof, described videos on Pornhub that the author said were recordings of rape scenes, assaults on unconscious women and girls, and other examples of explicit video taken without the consent of the participants. Pornhub did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

“The issue is not pornography but rape. Let’s agree that promoting assaults on children or on anyone without consent is unconscionable”, Kristof wrote in the column published on Friday. 

Pornhub denied the allegations stating that any assertion it allows child sex abuse material (CSAM) on its platform is “irresponsible and flagrantly untrue”.

“Due to the nature of our industry, people’s preconceived notions of Pornhub’s values and processes often differ from reality — but it is counterproductive to ignore the facts regarding a subject as serious as CSAM”, Pornhub said in a statement. “We have zero tolerance for CSAM. Pornhub is unequivocally committed to combating CSAM, and has instituted an industry-leading trust and safety policy to identify and eradicate illegal material from our community”, Pornhub adds.

The credit card company, which accepts payments on the website, said it has “zero tolerance for illegal activity” on its network and that it works closely with law enforcement and organizations such as the National and International Center for Missing and Exploited Children to detect and prevent those types of transactions.

“We are investigating the allegations raised in the New York Times and are working with [Pornhub parent company] MindGeek’s bank to understand this situation, in addition to the other steps they have already taken. If the claims are substantiated, we will take immediate action”, Mastercard said in a statement. “When we identify illegal activity, our policy is to ask the acquirer to terminate the relationship, unless an effective compliance plan is put in place”.

The investigation comes after a Times’ column, wrote that Pornhub allows videos of assaults, including a naked video of a 14-year-old girl to be downloaded directly from its site, leaving room for content to spread and be reuploaded to the internet even after it’s been taken down.

In response to Kristof’s story, Visa said they’re also investigating the matter.

“We are aware of the allegations, and we are actively engaging with the relevant financial institutions to investigate, in addition to engaging directly with the site’s parent company, MindGeek”, Visa said Sunday.

Visa added that if Pornhub is violating the law or bank policies, then the website will be prohibited from accepting Visa payments.

The online payment service PayPal last year stopped processing payments to Pornhub, which is owned by the pornography conglomerate MindGeek. The columnist called out other card issuers for working with the site.

Credit card payments on pornographic websites have long been a point of contention, with many activists calling for the suspension of these type of transactions on adult websites.