Porn Hub Will Ban Uploads From Unverified Users

In a huge policy shift, Pornhub has announced that it is banning unverified content from being posted on its website and will prohibit users from downloading content effective immediately.

According to The Hill, the changes came after mounting pressure following a damning New York Times column published last week. The article claimed that the pornography website contained rape scenes, revenge, pornography, and underaged sex.

After the piece was published, credit card companies Mastercard and Visa announced they were reviewing their business relationship with the company.

NYT columnist Nicholas Kristof alleged that while a “great majority” of the 6.8 million new videos posted on the side yearly may involve consenting adults, “many depict child abuse and non-consensual violence.”

Pornhub announced on Tuesday that it is only allowing verified content partners or people within its “Model Program” to upload to the website, which will launch a verification process next year so that “any user can upload content upon successful completion of identification protocol.”

As part of its stringent new updates, the porn site said it would also expand its content moderation management efforts, including a newly established “Red Team” that will be dedicated to solely self-auditing the platform for potential illegal material. Pornhub said it will also “continue to identify additional keywords” as part of its “already extensive” list of banned keywords.