Mastercard will no longer do business with Pornhub, after the payment giant investigated the site and found evidence of “unlawful content.” The move comes after a report found the site “infested” with child abuse and rape videos.
Missouri Senator Josh Hawley (R) revealed Mastercard’s decision on Thursday, and added that “Visa and every other credit card company should immediately do the same.”
Mastercard later confirmed the news, saying in a statement that “our investigation over the past several days has confirmed violations of our standards prohibiting unlawful content on their site. We instructed the financial institutions that connect the site to our network to terminate acceptance.”
Hawley’s fight against Pornhub began after a recent New York Times report claimed that the platform – the world’s biggest porn site – was “infested” with rape videos, including child rape and revenge porn. One video mentioned in the report allegedly showed the abuse of a 14-year-old girl.
The report sparked outrage. Hawley and fellow Republican Senator Ben Sasse (Nebraska) introduced a bill this week that would give victims of rape and sex trafficking the power to sue sites like Pornhub for distributing their photos and videos without consent, Pornhub itself introduced a swathe of new safety features, and Mastercard launched its own investigation into the site.
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