Mastercard and Visa investigate underage allegations against Pornhub
- New York Times column accused Pornhub of distributing videos depicting underage sex, non-consensual violence
- Pornhub said any assertion that it allows child sexual abuse material is untrue
Credit card giants Visa and Mastercard said that they are investigating their business relationship with Pornhub after a prominent newspaper columnist alleged that the pornographic website shows videos of rape and underage sex.
The New York Times column, written by Nicholas Kristof, described videos on Pornhub that the author said were recordings of assaults on unconscious women and girls.
“The issue is not pornography but rape. Let’s agree that promoting assaults on children or on anyone without consent is unconscionable,” Kristof wrote in the column published on Friday.
Pornhub denied the allegations.
“Any assertion that we allow CSAM (child sexual abuse material) is irresponsible and flagrantly untrue,” it said in a statement.
Mastercard said that it was investigating the allegations with Pornhub’s parent MindGeek’s bank. “If the claims are substantiated, we will take immediate action,” Mastercard said.