Visa and Mastercard, two of the world’s largest payment processors, said Thursday that they will suspend payments for ad purchases on Pornhub. The move comes on the heels of a judge allowing a lawsuit to proceed that accuses Visa of knowingly facilitating the spread of child pornography, also known as child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
A federal judge denied Visa’s motion to dismiss last week, allowing the case to move forward against the payment processor for alleged involvement in a “criminal agreement” to profit off the videos. In a statement released Thursday, Visa CEO Alfred Kelly said that, while the company strongly disagreed with the court’s ruling it had created “new uncertainty” around the role of TrafficJunky, MindGeek’s advertising arm. (MindGeek is Pornhub’s parent company). Citing that uncertainty, Kelly said Visa would suspend any relationship with TraficJunky until further notice. That means customers will no longer be able to use Visa cards to purchase advertising on MindGeek sites, which includes Pornhub, for the duration of the suspension. Visa’s decision came just two days after Bill Ackman, an influential hedge fund manager, called on the credit card company to pressure Pornhub to remove CSAM content.
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In a statement sent to Gizmodo, a MindGeek said that none of its platforms, including Pornhub, have ever tolerates CSAM or other illicit material.
“Despite today’s suspension of payment acceptance for our advertising platform, we are extremely confident in our policies and the fact that we have instituted trust and safety measures that far surpass those of any other major platform on the internet,” the company’s statement reads.
MindGeek went on to describe the recent allegation accusing the company of knowingly allowing and monetizing off CSAM material on its platform as “reckless,” and “false.”
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“At this point in the lawsuit, the court has not yet ruled on the veracity of any allegations, and is required to assume all of the plaintiff’s allegations are true and accurate. When the court can actually consider the facts, we are confident the plaintiff’s claims will be dismissed for lack of merit.”
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Source: Visa, Mastercard Suspend Ad Pornhub Payments Amid Lawsuit
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