Late Wednesday night, PayPal made filming pornography just a little more difficult by announcing it will no longer accept payments for Pornhub, one of the most-visited websites on the internet.
Much like YouTube for content creators, the smut site allows pornographers to upload, sell, and monetize videos they make themselves. Before this week, uploaders were able to use PayPal to collect payment for their videos, according to Vice.
By abandoning Pornhub, PayPal is making filming porn just a little harder. And Pornhub’s executives, the company said in a statement, are “devastated.”
“We are all devastated by PayPal’s decision to stop payouts to over a hundred thousand performers who rely on them for their livelihoods,” read a post on the site’s blog. “[W]e sincerely apologize if this causes any delays and we will have staff working around the clock to make sure all payouts are processed as fast as possible on the new payment methods.”
In a statement to Vice, PayPal said the company decided to end its partnership with Pornhub after a handful of concerning payments.
“Following a review,” the statement read, “we have discovered that Pornhub has made certain business payments through PayPal without seeking our permission. We have taken action to stop these transactions from occurring.”
The decision by those at PayPal comes after Pornhub removed “Girls Do Porn” as an official content partner on the website. The decision to axe the partner, which brought financial benefits to both Pornhub and the content creator, was made when the owners of “Girls Do Porn” and its employees were brought up on sex trafficking charges.
In August, some 22 women sued the San Diego-based porn partner, claiming they were coerced into performing explicit sexual acts. The website’s owners, Michael Pratt and Matthew Wolfe, as well as the account’s recruiter, Andre Garcia, have been accused of manipulating young women who were lured with the promise of modeling jobs, urging them to perform on camera by dishonestly claiming the footage would not be posted on the internet and their identities would remain private. Neither of those promises were kept.
The victims involved in the “Girls Do Porn” case said their lives have been “irreparably damaged as a result of unexpectedly having these films widely distributed.”
“It was a devastating feeling,” said one of the women involved. “I felt like I was lied to. I felt like I was definitely taken advantage of. I felt stupid even though I know it wasn’t my fault for falling for something that was so well put together.”
To be clear, PayPal did not say its decision to cut ties with Pornhub was related to the recent “Girls Do Porn” scandal. In the company’s acceptable use policy, PayPal states “certain sexually oriented materials or services” are prohibited transactions.
Regardless of the reason, it is good news when making and distributing pornography becomes even a little more difficult.
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