Visa and Mastercard have reportedly suspended advertising payments on Pornhub and its parent company MindGeek following a controversy over whether the adult video site may promote child pornography.
NBC Finance Report Visa and Mastercard said this week that ad card payments on Pornhub and its parent company MindGeek would be suspended, after a lawsuit sparked a dispute over whether the payments giant allows child pornography on its platforms.
A federal judge in California recently denied Visa’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought 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 Chairman 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 child sexual abuse,” Kelly said. “This is illegal and Visa does not allow the use of our network for illegal activities. Our rules clearly and unequivocally prohibit the use of our products to pay for content that depicts non-consensual sex or child sexual abuse. We are working hard to stop this remain vigilant about this situation 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 its Visa acceptance privileges. Visa cards will not be able to purchase ads on any MindGeek affiliated website.
“Visa’s policy is to comply with the laws of every country in which we do business. We do not make ethical judgments about consumers’ legitimate purchases, and we respect the legitimate role of lawmakers in determining what is legal and what is not,” Kelly said. “Visa can only be used on MindGeek studio sites that feature adult professional actors in legal adult entertainment.”
Mastercard told CNBC it was instructing financial institutions to suspend acceptance of its products at TrafficJunky following a court ruling. “The new facts of last week’s court ruling made us aware of advertising revenue that we believe appears to have indirectly funded Pornhub,” a Mastercard statement said. “This step will further implement the termination we made in December 2020. decision to use our products on this site.”
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Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering free speech and online censorship issues.follow him on twitter @lucasnolan
