Sex Workers Say Mastercard And Visa Pornhub Block Putting Livelihoods At Risk

Sex workers have hit out at credit card companies for 'defunding Pornhub' and putting their livelihoods at risk. Watch adult performer Mary Moody open up about the situation here:

Mastercard, Visa and Discover blocked all payments to Pornhub last month after an article in The New York Times accused the site of being infested with monetizable videos of 'child rapes, revenge pornography, spy cam videos of women showering, racist and misogynist content, and footage of women being asphyxiated in plastic bags'.

However, sex workers argue the payment block has done nothing to crack down on the problem, but rather has unfairly punished those making a legitimate living.

Adult performer Mary Moody has started a campaign to raise awareness of the impact of the block on workers like her.

Speaking to the BBC, she said: "I personally stand to lose thousands each month, but I want to spotlight the many workers who will be losing the income they rely on for survival, especially during the pandemic.

"Pornhub is the largest platform we have access to, by number of viewers and name recognition.

"It comes at the top of Google searches for pretty much any industry worker.

"Models who focused on Pornhub are out of a lot of income, and it's not as easy as it sounds to switch platforms and immediately make money."

Twitter/Mary Moody

Some performers feel the block is nothing to do with legal concerns, but rather has 'puritanical' motivations.

Adult performer Valentina Nappi told the BBC: "The credit card block is the result of the campaigning by religiously-motivated groups like Exodus Cry.

"The real target of these groups is not to help victims or fight illegal content on the internet, but to ban all forms of adult material."

Pornhub made drastic policy changes last month, banning downloads and making it so only verified users can upload videos, with all unverified videos retroactively removed.

The company said: "At Pornhub, nothing is more important than the safety of our community.

"Our core values such as inclusivity, freedom of expression and privacy are only possible when our platform is trusted by our users. This is why we have always been committed to eliminating illegal content, including non-consensual material and child sexual abuse material."

LADbible has contacted Mastercard, Visa and Discover for comment.

Topics: World News, Sex, crime, PornHub

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey