Pornhub Video Downloads No Longer Possible Following Reported Child Abuse Claims

Pornhub has banned the downloading of video content from their website following allegations of sexual assault of children. This means members who were able to download clips before will need to own a paid subscription account to download any content from the site.

Aside from that, the adult site has implemented stricter measures for those who are uploading content. According to Reuters, a new verification process will be implemented in the new year for those uploading videos to the site.

The controversy involving Pornhub was in response to a newspaper column claiming that many videos posted on the website depicted sexual assault of children. This was denied by the people behind the adult website after which they announced the new policies that would be set in place.

Mastercard Inc. and the bank of Pornhub parent company MindGeek are now investigating the allegations. Billionaire investor Bill Ackman called on Mastercard and Visa Inc. to temporarily withhold payments to Pornhub after the newspaper column came out.

Part of the column described how some recorded videos on the site were recordings of assaults on unconscious women and girls.

Visa and Mastercard are now investigating their financial links to MindGeek. Visa stated that they are vigilant about removing companies doing an illegal activity from their network.

“If the site is identified as not complying with applicable laws or the financial institutions’ acceptable use policies and underwriting standards, they will no longer be able to accept Visa payments,” read a statement from Visa.

Other payment companies do not allow their services to be used on adult content sites. That includes American Express and PayPal. Pornhub turned to other modes of payment – including Tether, a blockchain-based cryptocurrency.

In an opined column by Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times, he singled out how the site was infested with rape videos and earns money from hosting the clips. Aside from that, there is also revenge pornography, spycam videos of women showering, racist and misogynist content, and footage of women being asphyxiated in plastic bags.