Pornhub removes 10 million unverified videos amid allegations of monetising child rape content

Pornhub has removed about 80 percent of its total video content on the site after facing allegations that it plays host to child abuse content. The Canadian-owned pornography site has purged more than 10 million videos that were uploaded by unverified users into its platform.

According to reports, the site was infested with videos of rape as well as underage sex. The site owners are in the process of removing all videos that were not uploaded by its official content partners or members of its model program.

Pornhub said the uploaded videos are all pending verification and review, and that verification process will begin in the new year. Since the platform launched in 2007, any Pornhub user that has signed up for an account can upload their own video content.

However last week, allegations posted in a New York Times column stated that "the site monetises videos on child rape, revenge pornography, spy cam videos of women showering, racist and misogynist content and footage of women being asphyxiated using plastic bags. A search for girls under18 or 14 years old leads to more than 100,000 videos."

The column also mentioned the case of a missing 15-year-old in Florida, whose mother found her in 58 sex videos on Pornhub and a 14-year-old girl in California who was featured in sexual assault videos posted on the site. After these were reported to authorities, the offenders in each case were arrested.

However, Pornhub escaped from the accountability of sharing the videos and profiting from them.

Troubles for the porn site also came with Mastercard and Visa halting payments last week in the wake of the allegations.

Visa announced that it will also drop all sites linked to the Mindgeek network which included a handful of adult sites such as Redtube, Youporn, Xtube and Brazzers.

In 2021, the site announced they will be releasing their first transparency report that outlines the results of moderation from the previous year.

The porn company had also pointed out on its blog how the National Centre on Sexual Exploitation and Exodus Cry/ Trafficking Hub are organisations dedicated to abolishing pornography altogether. This made it clear to the site owners that they are being targeted not for their policies but merely because they are an adult content platform.

Pornhub currently has over 22 million registered users worldwide, outrunning Amazon and Netflix in online traffic rankings.