Mastercard and Visa will stop processing payments to Pornhub
Following the viral New York Times report that detailed Pornhub's hosting of videos featuring underaged girls — and the massive tube site not doing much to rectify the problem — Mastercard and Visa have announced on Thursday that they're cutting ties with Pornhub.
Mastercard full-stop won't allow their cards to be used to process Pornhub payments. Visa is suspending card use and will conduct their own investigation, Bloomberg reported. In statements to Bloomberg, both companies claimed the move was done due to the illegal content on Pornhub.
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Pornhub called Mastercard and Visa's decision "disappointing," according to Reuters. They added, "This news is crushing for the hundreds of thousands of models who rely on our platform for their livelihoods."
This comes over a year after PayPal suspended Pornhub payments and leaves even fewer options for customers. At the time, the service said that Pornhub "made certain business payments through PayPal without seeking our permission" in a statement to VICE.
Pornhub has been criticized for years for hosting illegal and non-consensual content, such as deepfakes and the GirlsDoPorn case, but it seems that the Times report has pushed the issue far enough into the public eye that major companies are now feeling the need to take action.