Pornhub has just announced it will remove all videos on its platform that weren’t uploaded by official content partners or members of its model program.
This is the latest in a series of major policy changes by the adult site to safeguard its platform and combat illegal contents.
“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,” according to Pornhub’s announcement.
“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.”
What this means is that a significant portion of its videos will disappear, pending verification and review, and the verification process will begin in the new year.
Last week, Pornhub banned unverified uploaders from posting new content and eliminated downloads. Prior to this change, anyone could create an account on Pornhub and upload any video they wanted to, since the platform’s launch in 2007, Vice reported.
The new policy changes were announced after the New York Times reported finding videos depicting child sex abuse and rape on the pornography site.
On Monday officials at MasterCard and Visa launched a probe into their links with the site, warning that they would cut ties with the parent company, MindGeek, if it turns out that the site is not following the law.
According to Vice, by Thursday, Mastercard and Visa announced that they’d both stop processing payments with the site altogether. Visa’s announcement specifically stated it would drop all of the Mindgeek network, which includes a number of adult sites, including Redtube, Youporn, XTube, and Brazzers.
Pornhub told AFP in a statement that it has “no tolerance” for content that shows sexual abuse of children.
In its latest statement, Pornhub wrote: “Leading non-profit organizations and advocacy groups acknowledge our efforts to date at combating illegal content have been effective. Over the last three years, Facebook self-reported 84 million instances of child sexual abuse material. During that same period, the independent, third-party Internet Watch Foundation reported 118 incidents on Pornhub. That is still 118 too many, which is why we are committed to taking every necessary action.”
