MONTREAL – Pornography website Pornhub yesterday outlined measures against illegal content on its platform after The New York Times reported finding videos depicting child sex abuse and rape on the site.
The paper asserted that among the 6.8 million new videos posted on the site each year, a majority “probably involve consenting adults, but many depict child abuse and non-consensual violence”.
Pornhub, said NYT, also lets users download videos directly from its site, which allows anyone to repost clips repeatedly and without limit.
“Today, we are taking major steps to further protect our community,” said a statement on Pornhub.
“Going forward, we will only allow properly identified users to upload content. We have banned downloads.”
Also, only content partners and people who earn ad revenue from their videos will be able to upload material to the site.
“In the new year, we will implement a verification process so that any user can upload content upon successful completion of the identification protocol,” said the statement.
Paid downloads remain possible, said the company, adding that it has also strengthened its moderation process.
On Monday, officials at MasterCard and Visa launched a probe into their links with the site, warning that they will cut ties with the parent company, MindGeek, if it turns out that the site is not following the law.
Pornhub told AFP that it has “no tolerance” for content that shows sexual abuse of children. – AFP, December 9, 2020
