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Mastercard Inc and Visa Inc stopped processing payments on one of Pornhub’s most popular porn websites on Thursday after the New York Times published an investigation last week that many videos posted on the adult website show sexual information. . violence against children.
Mastercard said it was finally ending the use of its cards on the site after the company’s own investigation confirmed the presence of illegal content on the platform. Mastercard added that it is investigating other websites for potentially illegal content.
Visa said it was suspending payments through its Pornhub cards until its own investigation was completed.
Pornhub denied the allegations, calling the actions “extremely disappointing,” saying the portal had already introduced safeguards such as a ban on downloading videos and only allowing certain partner accounts to upload content.
The actions of the credit card companies came after public reactions to an investigation by New York Times columnist Nicholas Christoph, who also claims that the site also shows videos made without the consent of the participants.
In response, two days ago, Pornhub announced measures to protect against videos featuring underage models on the site or made without consent, including a ban on unverified users from uploading material.
“This news is overwhelming for the hundreds of thousands of models who depend on our platform for their livelihood,” said an official statement from Pornhub.
The company said it had more than 42 billion visits to its website last year.
The actions of Mastercard and Visa will financially affect the owner of the website, Mindgeek.
Generally, Pornhub is free to use, but offers a subscription service for exclusive and higher quality videos.
