Pornhub ends anonymous uploads, loses credit card processing

In case you missed it, the New York Times published a piece in their “Opinion” section about the illegal underage content hosted on Pornhub. In response to the article, Pornhub’s parent company MindGeek denied that illegal underage and non-consensual content is a major issue on the site, but they also immediately ended downloads for videos and then ended the ability of unverified accounts to upload content. Since the article dropped, both Visa and Mastercard have suspended payment processing for Pornhub – a condition that may end up extending to other MindGeek-owned tube sites like YouPorn and Redtube.

The New York Times article and the effects of its publication is a mixed bag from the performer’s perspective. On one hand, studios and independent performers who produce legal content have always wanted Pornhub to restrict uploading to verified profiles because it would reduce both piracy and illegal content posted to the platform. On the other hand, Visa and Mastercard dropping processing for Pornhub is a huge hit for models who earn money on Pornhub through Modelhub sales, fan club sales, custom videos, and viewshare income from Pornhub Premium subscribers. Pornhub has told models that ad revenue on free videos will remain unaffected, and overall their messaging to models has been that this is “business as usual”, but it remains to be seen whether credit card processing will be reinstated, or if law enforcement will get involved. The Canadian Prime Minister has indicated that the government will be looking into the actions of MindGeek, which is headquartered in Canada and owned by a pair of Canadians.