Pornhub has decided to impose stricter control over the kind
of users who could upload content on their site, in a bid to counter
allegations of overlooking the child abuse material found available on the
site, Fox News reported on Wednesday.
“At Pornhub, nothing is more important than the safety
of our community,” a statement from the company read.
“Our core values such as inclusivity, freedom of
expression and privacy are only possible when our platform is trusted by our
users. This is why we have always been committed to eliminating illegal
content, including non-consensual material and child sexual abuse
material.”
The site, among other measures announced on Tuesday, will
only allow “properly identified users” to upload content on the site.
The decision has come primarily in the wake allegations made
by New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, who on December 4 wrote in an article about people who found
their objectionable pictures and videos on the site, shot without their consent.
One such person was ‘Nicole’, a 19-year-old British
woman, who found her nude videos on the site from when she was only 15.
“It’s always going to be online,” Nicole told Kristof,
who wrote about many other women in the article.
“That’s my big fear of having kids, them seeing this.”
Nicole also wrote to Pornhub a desperate message, in which she admitted to being suicidal because of the content involving her.
“Why do videos of me from when I was 15 years old and
blackmailed, which is child porn, continuously [get] uploaded?” Nicole wrote to
Pornhub last year in a message.
“You really need a better system. … I tried to kill myself
multiple times after finding myself reuploaded on your website.”
In a statement to Fox News last week, Pornhub denied
allowing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on its platform.
“Any assertion that we allow CSAM is irresponsible and
flagrantly untrue,” a statement from the company read referring to child
sexual abuse material.
“We have zero tolerance for CSAM. Pornhub is
unequivocally committed to combating CSAM, and has instituted an
industry-leading trust and safety policy to identify and eradicate illegal
material from our community.”