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Visa and Mastercard have suspended card payments for ads on Pornhub and its parent company MindGeek following controversy over whether the adult video sites could be facilitating child pornography.
CNBC References that Visa and Mastercard said this week that card payments for ads on Pornhub and its parent company MindGeek would be suspended after a lawsuit sparked controversy over whether the payments giants could allow child pornography on their platform .
A federal judge in California recently rejected Visa’s bid to dismiss a lawsuit by a woman who accused the payment processor of facilitating the distribution of child pornography on Pornhub and other MindGeek-owned sites. Visa CEO and President Al Kelly said in a statement that the company strongly condemns sex trafficking and is confident in its position.
“Visa condemns sex trafficking, sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children,” Kelly said. “It is illegal and Visa does not allow our network to be used for illegal activity. Our rules expressly and categorically prohibit the use of our products to pay for content that depicts non-consensual sexual behavior or child sexual abuse. We are vigilant in our efforts to prevent this and other illegal activities on our network.”
Kelly said the decision created uncertainty about the role of TrafficJunky, MindGeek’s advertising arm, and as a result, the company will suspend Visa acceptance privileges. Visa cards will not be able to purchase advertising on MindGeek-affiliated sites.
“It is Visa’s policy to follow the laws of each country in which we operate. We do not make moral judgments about legitimate purchases made by consumers, and we respect the legitimate role of legislators to make decisions about what is legal and what is not,” Kelly said. “Visa can only be used on MindGeek studio sites featuring adult professional actors in legal adult entertainment.”
Mastercard told CNBC that it is instructing financial institutions to suspend acceptance of its products on TrafficJunky following the court ruling. “New evidence from last week’s court ruling has made us aware of advertising revenue outside of our view that appears to provide indirect funding to Pornhub,” a Mastercard statement said. “This step will further enforce our December 2020 decision to end the use of our products on this site.”
Read more at CNBC here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan
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