A controversy over Pornhub hosting child abuse videos has prompted the adult site to temporarily stop internet users from uploading new content.
“Effective immediately, only content partners and people within the Model Program will be able to upload content to Pornhub,” the site said in a statement on Tuesday. “In the new year, we will implement a verification process so that any user can upload content upon successful completion of identification protocol.”
Pornhub, which is owned by MindGeek, made the announcement after Nicholas Kristof, a columnist for The New York Times, documented how thousands of pornography clips featuring rape or sexual abuse of underage children circulates easily on the adult video site.
One reason is because the site long allowed users to upload videos to the website. Anyone could also download porn clips, ensuring the content would live on even if Pornhub removed it.
Kristof’s column prompted both Visa and Mastercard to investigate MindGeek over the allegations, opening up the possibility that the companies would stop accepting payments for Pornhub. However, on Tuesday Pornhub announced it would take stronger action to eliminate child porn and non-consensual videos from the site.
“Today, we are taking major steps to further protect our community. Going forward, we will only allow properly identified users to upload content,” the site said, although it remains unclear how it'll verify users.
Pornhub is also banning downloads, with the exception of paid downloads from creators verified through the site’s Model Program. “In tandem with our fingerprinting technology, this will mitigate the ability for content already removed from the platform to be able to return,” it said.
In addition, Pornhub say it's bolstering the site's content moderation. Kristof’s column reported that MindGeek only employs 80 moderators, which pales in comparison to the approximately 15,000 US moderators at Facebook. However, Pornhub says it created a new “Red Team” of moderators dedicated to proactively removing illegal content from the site. PornHub also says it’s working with more than 40 nonprofit groups to remove the offending videos.
“In 2021, we will release a Transparency Report detailing our content moderation results from 2020,” the site added. “This will identify not just the full number of reports filed with NCMEC (National Center for Missing & Exploited Children), but also other key details related to the trust and safety of our platform.”
In response to the changes on Pornhub, Kristof said on Twitter: “A great deal depends on how responsibly Pornhub implements these, and it hasn't earned my trust at all, but these seem significant.
“A great deal will also depend on whether past content, already on the site, is vetted or removed,” he added. “I'd add that continued monitoring and pressure will be necessary, and that we should also widen the lens to look at other companies. XVideos already has a bigger audience than Pornhub, and fewer scruples, and they should be forced to adopt similar measures —and make them work."