Adult video site Pornhub has deleted the majority of videos by suspending all unverified uploads, amid a row over illegal content.
A New York Times report had accused the site of being “infested” with child-abuse and rape-related videos.
Pornhub hasn’t released the official breakdown yet, but according to Vice, the number of searchable videos in the adult entertainment site went from 13.5 million to 4.7 million.
It’s an absolute drastic reduction, and it affects a lot of the service’s most popular amateur videos. It may seem like a drastic move to some fans of the site, but it was a change needed for a long time and it came as the site finds itself under intense scrutiny.
First, The New York Times published an expose on victims of child abuse that had their rape videos uploaded to the site. Afterwards, both Mastercard and Visa announced they would stop processing payments to the site.
All suspended videos on Pornhub currently deliver a notice saying they’ve been flagged as part of the “trust and safety policy.”
“I suspect some creators will try to get verified and get the content reinstated, but much of it will probably just disappear forever. If that is what it takes to weed out the bad actors and figure out a way for creators to get paid in a fair and transparent fashion, I think it’s a great tradeoff” an analyst said
