Millions of videos removed as Mastercard and Visa stop people using cards on Pornhub

Millions of videos have been removed from Pornhub in the last week.

The move, part of a crackdown on user-uploaded content, comes days after Mastercard and Visa moved to block people using cards on the site.

The videos, uploaded by unverified users, were wiped from the site on Monday.

Only videos posted to the site by official content partners or members of the “model program” – which required age verification remain.

The decision by MasterCard and Visa came following an investigation into the site sparked by column by New Yorks Times’ Nicholas Kristof, who reported the site contained videos of child abuse and rape.

.@Mastercard has just advised me that it has confirmed the presence of illegal material on Pornhub, so it is immediately ending Mastercard use on Pornhub. It will also address the issue on other websites. This wouldn't have happened without survivors bravely speaking up.

— Nicholas Kristof (@NickKristof) December 10, 2020

A statement from Mastercard said: “Our investigation over the past several days has confirmed violations of our standards prohibiting unlawful content on their site.

“We instructed the financial institutions that connect the site to our network to terminate acceptance.”

A Visa spokesperson added: “We are instructing the financial institutions who serve MindGeek (parent company of Pornhub) to suspend processing of payments through the Visa network.”

In response, a blog post from Pornhub said: “The disappointing news comes just days after Pornhub instituted the most far-reaching changes to safety in any user-generated platform’s history onto already existing safeguards.

Unverified users are now banned from uploading content – a policy no other platform has put in place.

“Only those in the model program and content program can upload, and we are currently implementing a new verification process that will be released in the new year that will allow verified users to upload as well.”