NCOSE Dives into Pornhub’s Misconduct in ‘Year in Review’ Report
By Movieguide® Contributor
The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) just released their version of Pornhub’s year in review on Saturday.
“Every year Pornhub releases a ‘Year in Review’ where they brag about the billions of views they get around the world,” NCOSE reported.
The center’s report reveals “ripped-from-the-headlines stories, including alleged exploitation by the numbers, and a summary of the groundbreaking undercover investigations into Pornhub’s own employees.”
Unfortunately, Pornhub is the “10th most visited website in the world,” per the San Diego Tribune. However, many victims and organizations have fought back against the company, which circulates violent material, including CSAM (child abuse material) and feeds into human trafficking.
This year, “In a historic ruling, a federal district court in California has granted a motion to certify a class in a case against Pornhub and its parent company Aylo (formerly “MindGeek”) for allegedly ‘systematically participat[ing] in sex-trafficking ventures involving tens of thousands of children by receiving, distributing, and profiting from droves of child sexual abuse material,’” NCOSE reported.
The court found that Aylo knew its users loaded CSAM onto its sites and, despite that fact, did not attempt to prevent it.
In 2023, 62 victimized women sued the parent company, which makes a total of 356 lawsuits against the company since 2020.
Movieguide® recently reported how users on Pornhub are now required to verify their age in several states. These “laws exist in Virginia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas and Utah. “
However, NCOSE notes that there are plenty of cracks that the company can slip through to get around these laws.
For example, in undercover videos with some of Aylo’s employees, “One of Pornhub’s former supervisors and compliance employees shared that those wishing to advertise on Pornhub and other sites don’t have to verify the age, consent, or identity of people featured in pornographic advertisements,” and “Pornhub’s technical product manager shared about a ‘loophole‘ that allows verified users to upload videos of people without having to show their faces,” NCOSE reported.
If faces are not shown, the users’ identities cannot be verified.
The video of the “loophole” employee caught the attention of 26 state attorney generals, who sent a letter to Pornhub about CSAM concerns in September.
The letter reads, “As you are aware, various Federal and state laws forbid the creation and distribution of CSAM. Please provide us with an explanation of this ‘loophole;’ whether Aylo and its subsidiaries do, in fact, permit content creators and performers to obscure their faces in uploaded content; and, if so, whether Aylo is taking measures to change this policy to ensure that no children or other victims are being abused for profit on any of its platforms.”
NCOSE also shared many of the headlines that Pornhub received in 2023:
The Verge: Pornhub is Changing its Name to Total Nonsense
Politico: A Simple Law Is Doing the Impossible. It’s Making the Online Porn Industry Retreat.
VICE: Pornhub Sues Texas Over Age Verification Law
ABC4 News: 26 AGs send letter to Pornhub with concerns about child sex abuse material
Times of San Diego: Pornhub Parent Company Sued by 61 Women for Videos Published Without Consent
NBC 15: Pornhub branded ‘serial exploiter’ by watchdog following undercover investigation
The Irish Times: Woman sues Pornhub claiming recordings of her being sexually abused appeared on the site
The Gazette: Sex Trafficking victims call on judge to recuse himself in Pornhub criminal case
“Join with us to continue shedding light on the sexual abuse and exploitation, as well as public health harms, facilitated by this company and the pornography industry at large,” NCOSE asks. “In 2024, we are fighting for survivors, for accountability, and for justice!”
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