The world’s largest online purveyor of self-described “quality adult entertainment” was recently investigated by the US government for crimes related to sex trafficking and child exploitation. While the charges were dropped, the company’s apology for dealing with the criminally-sanctioned “GirlsDoPorn” organisation may signal a turning point in the effort to expose the violence of pornography. But to truly scrub this harm from cyberspace will require each of us to look in our own wallets.
The company under investigation, rebranded a few months ago from MindGeek to Aylo, is no stranger to the courtroom. Hundreds of women have sued its flagship website, Pornhub, with 50 complainants against the site settling last year over the site’s hosting of “GirlsDoPorn” videos. After a lawsuit this year by another brave survivor, still ongoing, the feds finally took notice. To avoid criminal charges, Aylo pledged reforms.
But it’s not plausible to reform an industry so thoroughly committed to degradation that, as another lawsuit launched against Pornhub in California in November alledged, tagged videos with phrases such as “less than 18” and “middle school girls.” The judge in that lawsuit described Aylo as “willfully blind to the unimaginable suffering...allegedly inflicted.”
The harms of pornography, especially to young people, have been documented in over 500 peer-reviewed studies. Still, many kids view porn before they reach their tenth birthday. In fact, much of Pornhub is free, requiring no registration. In most countries, a child doesn’t even need to click on a cursory I’m-over-18 button.
Thankfully, the legal momentum against this industry is growing. The Online Safety Act, which received Royal Assent in October, will soon require porn sites to verify that users are not children. Several states in the US have done likewise, which the industry predictably challenges. These laws are a good start. But we need to also pressure the entire ecosystem that profits from this abuse, including the banks and credit cards you probably use every day.
Some months ago, Pornub’s parent company was acquired by Ethical Capital Partners, a Canadian private equity firm registered in the British Virgin Islands. The firm boasts of its “ethics-first investing,” yet peddles sexual violence.
For example, Pornhub caters to deviant interests, among other things, through its Teen, Babysitter, and School categories. Many of its female performers frankly look like girls rather than adults. Pornhub, too, features an incestuous “Step Fantasy” category and promotes racial stereotypes such as “hijab hottie” and “hood hoes.” Violence flourishes on the site. Its many key phrases include “do anything money,” “rough slapping,” and “no mercy.”
Surely, you may be thinking, no respectable bank would do business with any company that romanticises sexual violence. Think again. Visa and Mastercard did cancel business with Pornhub following a 2020 exposé of children who appeared on the site in violation of the 18+ requirement Pornhub has in place for performers. The two firms later stopped payments to MindGeek’s advertising arm, TrafficJunky, after a lawsuit accused Visa of “knowingly providing the means through which MindGeek monetises child porn”, through MindGeek’s recklessness in age verification checks. But these and other mainstream financial institutions continue to profit from Pornhub.
Should you wish to purchase a premium account on Pornhub, your personal bank will happily make an electronic transfer. Or you can pay with more than a dozen cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, which are available from crypto exchanges such as Kraken or NASDAQ-traded Coinbase. The former accepts PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Sofort, and iDeal; the latter, Visa and Mastercard.
You can purchase branded merchandise, including Christmas ornaments, from the online Pornhub Apparel shop, which prefers Visa and Mastercard. The site processes payments through Quickpay, based in Denmark, which conducts business with American Express, Diners Club, and JCB.
Aylo’s own online payment platform, ProBiller, accepts PayPal, Diners Club, Discover, Visa, and Mastercard. You can also use the latter three on other Aylo porn sites such as Reality Kings, Brazzers, and SpiceVids, and several of its sexual webcamming platforms. Some of these sites contract with Vendo to process payments. In addition to doing business with ordinary banks and credit cards, Vendo also accepts PayGarden, which allows users to make purchases – say, porn – with ordinary gift cards from major international retailers, including popular clothing brands.
Pornhub, too, relies on cloud hosting services and domain name registrars. Pornhub works with fashion brands, well-known media companies, and has an app on Google’s Android platform. You can also readily find Pornhub or other Aylo companies on Facebook, LinkedIN, YouTube, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), Reddit, and Discord.
Many still see Pornhub as an innocuous pastime. But not survivors, who are leading the charge against the sexual abuses rampant in pornography. Age verification legislation, and the rising number of lawsuits, are a step in the right direction. What we need to do now is hold accountable the mainstream financial and other companies that make this harmful ecosystem possible, including the credit cards that are in your pockets and purses.
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