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Pornhub writes Monday that they have implemented what they call “the most comprehensive security measures in the history of user-generated platforms.”
The result is that the number of videos on the site is drastically reduced. According to CNN, it has dropped from 13.5 million videos to less than 3 million.
Pornhub is one of the largest sites in the world. According to similarweb, it is the 10th largest website in the world, regardless of content.
The company itself writes that it shows more than 100 billion videos a year and that more than 100 million people visit the site every day.
Strong accusations
Pornhub has been in big trouble since journalist Nicholas Kristof wrote a comment in the New York Times on December 4.
Kristof showed how the website makes money from videos showing a series of illegal acts.
Examples include child abuse, so-called “revenge porn,” spy cameras in public restrooms, and videos of women strangled with plastic bags.
Searching the website for images of minors, according to Kristof, gives more than 100,000 hits.
The website is also used in Norway for criminal activities. On Tuesday, Rett24 covered a case in which a man was sentenced to 100 days in prison for uploading a video of his ex-girlfriend to Pornhub.
It’s not the first time
Nicholas Kristof’s article in the New York Times has led to several large companies no longer wanting to have anything to do with Pornhub.
Photo: Wikipedia Commons
Kristof’s allegations are far from the first time that Pornhub has been accused of posting abuse videos.
One of those who has told her story is Rose Kalemba. She was raped when she was 14 years old in 2009 and the videos of the rape ended up on Pornhub.
Some of the videos of the rape have had more than 400,000 views, writes the BBC.
Kalemba says she contacted Pornhub multiple times to have the videos removed. Only when she pretended to be a lawyer and sent a letter were they removed.
Has been able to download videos
Like the most popular websites like YouTube and Facebook, it has been mainly users who have been able to upload videos to Pornhub.
One big difference is that it has also been possible to download videos from Pornhub, as opposed to what has been possible on normal social media.
Therefore, several people have experienced that it has not been enough for Pornhub to remove a video that has been posted illegally.
Because many people have been able to download a video before it has been deleted, the videos have been uploaded over and over again.
Multiple victims have said that the company removed a video, but that it reappeared shortly after.
Blocked by Visa and Mastercard
Even before Kristof wrote his article, Pornhub was under pressure. More than 2.1 million people have signed a petition to shut down the site.
The company is registered in Canada and the government says it will propose laws that could stop parts of the business.
The hardest hit so far was Pornhub last Thursday. Then Visa and Mastercard made it clear that they will not mediate payments to the company.
Previously, the PayPal payment service had blocked the company. As a result, much of Pornhub’s income may disappear.
Trying to correct the impression
In an attempt to respond to criticism, Pornhub says they remove all videos uploaded by people who have not signed up.
This means that the number of videos will be reduced from 13.5 million to less than 3 million.
Registration with Pornhub means that a user must submit a photo of himself with the username. It is not necessary to identify yourself by name or show any type of identification.
At the same time, the company says that many people will lose income as a result of boycotts of the company.
According to Pornhub, the Visa and Mastercard blockchain is “crushing hundreds of thousands of models who depend on our platform for a living.”
