Pornhub removes millions of videos in purge of unverified content

Millions of videos will now go through a verification process.

Pornhub has removed millions of videos from its website in a purge of all unverified content. Any video that wasn't uploaded by official content partners or members of its model program will now disappear and be subject to a verification process in the new year. "As part of our policy to ban unverified uploaders, we have now also suspended all previously uploaded content that was not created by content partners or members of the Model Program," Pornhub's announcement said. "This means every piece of Pornhub content is from verified uploaders, a requirement that platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat and Twitter have yet to institute." Prior to this change, anyone could upload any video content to Pornhub without any verification checks, meaning the site was susceptible to users uploading videos of non-consensual acts of sexual activity. The change in policy comes following a New York Times article that documented the lives of victims of sexual abuse whose traumatic experiences were published on the site. This prompted Visa and Mastercard to withdraw their services from the site, and eventually Pornhub to alter their policy on the uploading process. Visa's announcement specifically stated it would drop all of the Mindgeek network, which includes a number of adult sites, including Redtube, Youporn, XTube, and Brazzers. Videos that have been temporarily taken down will not necessarily disappear forever. Until they have been verified, they will display an image signifying they are being vetted as shown below. It is thought that as many as 9 million videos have been temporarily removed. "In today’s world, all social media platforms share the responsibility to combat illegal material. Solutions must be driven by real facts and real experts," Pornhub's announcement says. "We hope we have demonstrated our dedication to leading by example."