After a long campaign to shut down Pornhub and hold its executives accountable for aiding trafficking, spearheaded by Laila Mickelwait - and supported by Collective Shout - the CEO and COO of Mindgeek, the parent company of Pornhub, have resigned.
In December 2020, after a New York Times piece by Nick Kristof exposed Pornhub facilitating and monetising videos of child rape, both Mastercard and Visa blocked the use of their cards on the site. Our movement director Melinda Tankard Reist had previously participated in a high level briefing to Mastercard executives.
Pornhub then removed 10.6 million videos that had not been uploaded by verified users – 80% of its content – and removed the download button. Antoon and Tassillo were required to appear before Canadian Parliament to be questioned over non-consensual and child abuse content on the site. They failed to take any responsibility for their crimes against women and children, and even portrayed themselves as “world leaders” in child protection. Both men referenced their work to “stamp out CSAM” (Child Sexual Abuse Material) but what they actually did was host and monetise it.
Read our submission to Canadian parliamentary ethics committee here.
Hear the facts I presented as a witness to Canadian Parliament of how Pornhub is COMPLICIT in the monetization, distribution and advertising of child sexual abuse—all federal crimes. This evidence is why they are trying to silence me. #Traffickinghub pic.twitter.com/c6CnXRKQXM
— Laila Mickelwait (@LailaMickelwait) February 21, 2021
Last week, a story published in the New Yorker found “graphic” reports of pornographic videos of women and girls posted without their consent remained on the site “for years”. The piece included an account from a woman named Rachel, whose images were shared on the site as a 15-year-old. She wrote to Pornhub, saying, “I don’t know what to do because every time I get them removed you keep allowing them to be uploaded its ruining my life.”
According to Exodus Cry, Pornhub and Mindgeek are now being sued by 191 victims in multiple lawsuits for over $1 billion.
This is all great progress, but we need these men to be held accountable too. Join more than 2 million others and sign the petition to shut down Pornhub and hold Its executives accountable for aiding trafficking.
See also
Pornhub commits crimes against women and girls
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